Synergy

An audiovisual and lighting installation by Theproximitymovement, in which we address the concept of coexistence or co-involvement. We conceive the installation as a great machinery in which each part affects the whole, each part or individual element could determine the future of the whole becoming.

Synergy was exhibited as part of the LLUM BCN 2021 festival at the Parc Central del Poblenou.

Concept

Conceptually we are thought about a broad definition that obviously does not include only humans, but also the environment we inhabit, other organisms, other species, and above all: machines, which in this case are responsible for reproducing the idea of mutual affectation.

In recent times as humanity, we have gone through a great crisis, from which much has been said about the fact that on this planet we are no more queco-inhabitants. What we were interested in proposing is that in this conceptual line, the machines have also become co-inhabitants of this universe.

For this reason, what we propose with the installation is to humanize the machines, in order to stop conceiving of them as a separate entity (an other).

We decided that the installation works as a choreography between different parts / devices, which affect each other. others. At the level of the installation itself we are talking about the affectation between the large central totem pole and the three lights.

At a more macro level, we are also talking about the integration of the installation within the space. We wanted to somehow leave each device a little bare, using truses as if they were logs and emphasizing the circular shape so present in this park: the circles of light and also the circular format of the screen.

Cycles

A fundamental characteristic in nature and within all the beings that we cohabit in it are the cycles, which pass between beginnings, evolution, culmination and new beginnings. Life cycles tend to transformation and renewal. We see its affectation reflected within all natural phenomena and living beings. They are generators of identity through the phases that make them up, always flowing in a constant and orderly manner.

We wanted to make these cycles present in our installation and the connections that they foster, the way of representing them was by transmitting through generative visuals, audio and lighting design certain characteristics that we observe in nature. There is a beginning as an introduction where all the elements come to life, the system acts in calm and harmony which is reflected in the movements of the graphics and in the audio in which wind sounds intervene that transmit calm.

Afterwards, alterations that cause tension are promoted, which is visually contagious with a change in patterns and frequency, the audio accompanies with specific accents along with the lights reaching chaos. From here it moves towards a restoration that leads to cohesion and synergy, it is represented with graphics that change their movements to more organic forms and then enter a phase of decay that leads to a weakening between the elements that culminates with the shutdown. This cycle comes to an end and automatically begins again.

Visual, sound and light content

The design of the visual composition was inspired by a propagation pattern present in nature called the reaction – diffusion, which was modified to respond to the different phases. Colors, which appeal to human perception, connect with different emotions and take the viewer to different states.

The sound design structure of the installation was developed with the same methodology as the visual part. We also found a certain relationship between sound frequencies and colors, making an interpretation through midi notes and selected plugins. The frequencies and modulations were modified until the same sensations were transmitted in a kinesthetic way.

Lastly, the lighting design, the three luminaires that surround the central visual element appear as integrators of the piece, creating a reactive interaction that connects all the elements through choreographies that vary between movements and color changes. The lights represent a charge of energy that brings life to the rest of the elements of the work and that modify it every time, to each light action there is a visual and sound response and vice versa. Light is the key factor for the concept of Synergy since it is the element that unifies and unites the entire work.

Sensory proposal

What we propose is a sensory experience in which the visitor can perceive how the integration of each resource (lights, visual and sound) organically transports the apparatus from one state to another, and that the visitor can also be part of this dynamic, entering physically and emotionally in the sensory journey of the work.