blower:
please visit http://servus.at/blower/
BLOWER - a reactive installation that takes webserver logfiles and represents
search terms by fan airflow and so transforms abstract notions into a
corporeal medium.
BLOWER deals with statistic logfile analysis and data representation. The
installation is connected to the internet and automatically determines through
a perl script the search terms employed to find a a specific web host. The
first 150 search terms are connected to 300 stacked fans. Popular search terms
create stronger airflow than less popular. Starting from the question what are
the terms people search for, one finds oneself in one of the rare situations
where visitors disclose their wishes and desires. Thus the motivation for the
website visit can be identified quite easily. Through BLOWER the exhibition
audience can experience this statistical data material directly. Additionally
the data is send by Bluetooth to the visitors' mobile phones.
Every user of a website leaves behind data traces, no matter if they are human
or software (like search engine robots). These traces are recorded in the
logfiles. Through the evaluation of these protocols one can infer how the
website is used. Though a logfile analysis cannot reveal anything about the
actual quality and content of the transferred data, it still gives a
measurable tendency of the meaning of words. For example a logfile analysis
can provide an indication of how socially relevant a website is. A central
point of BLOWER is to artistically explore how the technical procedures and
basic principles, which are used for example in marketing for statistical
visualisations, are represented. The combination of accurate statistical
methods and accelerated air flows presents itself as absurd theatre and at the
same time as a critique of ubiquitous data visualisation.
collaboration:
ushi reiter, karl heinz jeron, markus decker
shows:
nomadenetappe linz 2011, skuc gallery ljubljana 2012