More Infos:

more info about the exhibtion

Büro für Brauchbarkeit
Trimbornstr. 7
51105 Cologne

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We also saw the pattern in the wall structure the first time, since it was produced with our instructions by a special company in March 2010. Some leveling and cleaning of the vylene was necessary. Finally the mounting of the circuit boards was done with the help of specialists and a mobile stage. We had to wear helmets, working shoes and some plastic slippers to enter the building, which is still under construction.

We would like to thank the Staatsbygg office (Tone Westby), Hilmatis (Tommy Hilstrom) and Peter for their respectful and professional help.
More information and images about the project can be found here

electronic pattern parasite | Milled wall and mounted solar circuits with electronic elements
IFI2, University of Oslo, Norway, permanent exhibition since Sep 2010

colmena | exhibition of 100 crotched nests with solar driven circuits
Pilar i Joan Miro foundation, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, Jun 2010-Okt 2010
Urbanea, Inca, Spain, March 2011

parasite sculptures | permanent exhibition of knitted solarsculptures
Supercomputing Centre, University of  Stuttgart, since Jun 2006

elf | Installation with analog electronics, photographs and preserving glasses
international exhibitions and festivals from 2004-2011:

Here comes the sun, Biosphäre Potsdam 11. Jun – 18. Sep 2011 | Potsdam, Germany
Here comes the sun, Uferhallen Berlin | 06. Sep – 31. Okt 2010 | Berlin, Germany
Here comes the sun, mondo mio! | 15. Jul – 29. Aug 2010 | Dortmund, Germany
Darwin Festival | 03. Jul – 05. Jul 2009 | Shrewsbury, Great Britain
Bouillants#1 | 09. Mar – 26. Jun 2009 | Rennes, Vern/Seiche, France
Wood Street Galleries | 25.Jan – 05. Apr. 2008 | Pittsburgh, USA
Palazzo delle Arti Napoli | 08.Nov – 03. Dec. 2007 | Napels, Italy
Digital Playground 07 | 16.Oct. – 06. Nov. 2007 | Seoul, South-Korea
Matchmaking | 13.Oct – 12. Nov, 2006 | Trondheim, Norway
STRP | 23. – 26. Mar. 2006 | Eindhoven, Netherlands
Skuc Gallery | Dec. 2005 | Ljubljana, Slovenia
Digital Playground 05 | 21.Okt. – 07.Nov. 2005 | Uijeongbu, Korea
Ars Electronica | 01. – 06. Sep. 2005 | Linz, Austria
Siggraph05 | 31.Jul. – 04.Aug. 2005 | Los Angeles, USA
Pixelache Festival | 14. – 17. Apr. 2005 | Helsinki, Finland
Japan Media Art Festival | Feb. 2005 | Tokyo, Japan
18. Stuttgarter Filmwinter | 13. – 16. Jan. 2005 | Stuttgart, Germany
Museum’s night | 6. Nov. 2004 | Cologne, Germany
New Forms Festival | 14. – 18. Nov. 2004 | Vancouver, Canada
Artbots | 17. – 19. Sept. 2004 | New York City, USA

“The fascination of artificial/electronic life”, Sketch/Poster Siggraph, Los Angeles 2005
Artist talk Siggraph, Los Angeles 2005
Artist talk / lectures NIFCA, Helsinki 2005
Art and Technology, Gastvortrag | Simon Frasor University, Vancouver 2004
Artists and Technology, Panel | NFF Conference, Vancouver  2004
“The fascination of artificial/electronic life”, Pratt Manhattan, NYC 2004
“The fascination of artificial/electronic life”, Pratt Brooklyn, NYC 2004

Pascal Glissmann

is an independent design professional, (media) artist and founder of the studio subcologne in Cologne. He holds a BFA in communication design from the University of Applied Sciences Duesseldorf and an MFA in audiovisual media from the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. After working as an art director and freelance designer he joined the faculty of the Academy of Media Arts Cologne as a reseacher and teacher from 2001 to 2007. From 2007 to 2009 he was Assistant Professor of Media Design / Media Art at the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University. For the academic year 2010/2011 he is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Lebanese-American University, School of Architecture and Design, Beirut.

Martina Höfflin

is a programmer, designer and media artist. She studied Computer Science at the Academy of Applied Sciences in Furtwangen and the San Francisco State University focussing on interaction design, usability and internet applications.
From 2002-2008 she was teaching and researching at the design department of the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. She also started the Büro für Brauchbarkeit, a studio for web applications and media art in Cologne in 2002 and is still working there as a independent designer, programmer and artist.

The electronic pattern parasite is an organism that crawls from the light-spending windows across the wall of the IFI 2 building by milling its way into the surface leaving a pattern-like structure behind. Small sound producing organs sit at the far end of the relief-like tracks and tentacles. As it did not take over the whole wall yet, students and visitors can continue this process of conquest in their imagination.

These organs of the parasite pattern reflect the nature and core philosophy of the IFI 2 building. As a part of the Oslo university it is a center of information and communication where sophisticated technology is used to enable students and teachers conducting their research. Most of these technologies are based on computerized processes which became arbitrary to human beings as they are not only incomprehensible but also concealed behind abstract software and hardware interfaces. In average day life we do not question these interfaces between machines and human beings anymore as they became a granted unquestionable paradigm for us. We rather tend to accept and even subordinate ourselves which seems to be surprising when we take a close look on the basic components which are used for the electronic circuits behind it.

The electronic pattern parasite reveals exactly these components by bringing them from the non visual world into a public environment. The depiction of the parasite as something that grows organically on the wall gives an autarkic character to it. This quality is intensified by the uncontrollable and unpredictable sounds which are produced by the electronics. They are independent from human beings and only react to the light that is available. They remain silent in the dark, probably crawling up the wall through another milled tentacle…

The parasite has three different kind of organs that have specifically designed circuit boards of different sizes as a base. The copper circuits on the white round boards reflect the morphing of nature and technology as they show three different phases of an evolution from natural-organic to geometric-technical. While the veins of the smallest board have an organically grown – almost random – character, the graphical appearance of the largest board is accurate and geometric. In between – on the medium size board – a fusion of organic and geometric shapes can be found. The light depending output of all boards is similar but it increases in numbers related to the size.

The pattern was planned and prototyped with the nice help of Sto Verotec, Lauingen, Germany. In cooperation with Tommy Hilstrom the pattern was worked into the wall structure in March 2010, and the electronic components were mounted in September 2010. The opening of the building and the 6 art projects inside and outside the building is planned in March 2011.
Pictures of the production process and prototyping can be found in our research blog.

Facts
5 x circuit boards diameter 150 mm
5 x circuit boards diameter 180 mm
5 x circuit boards diameter 210 mm
7500 green capacitors
1500 red capacitors
30 solar cells, diameter 50 mm
50 solar cells, diameter 10 mm
29 circles, diameter 100 mm
5 circles, diameter 200 mm
4 circles, diameter 230 mm
6 circles, diameter 260 mm
60 m of 20 mm lines
25 m of 30 mm lines
15 m of 45 mm lines
Walldimensions: 6 x 6,5 m

We like to thank Ella Heidi Sand, Jeremy Welsh and the National Foundation of Art in Public Buildings, Norway for their help and commission as well as Sto Laboratory in Lauingen, Germany for their help and research with the wallpattern.