Amanda Steggell – The Electromagnetic Fountain

Every city has its own invisible twin-city - an architecture in flux made up of electromagnetic waves emitted by its numerous electrical facilities, transmitters and receivers. The Electromagnetic Fountain is a small-scale, transportable fountain that responds to these waves to form an ever-changing aquatic choreography.

Fountains generally perform aesthetic functions. When they are placed in urban spaces the intention is often to bring an oasis - an experience of nature - into the city. Observing and listening to fountains can be a mesmerizing and contemplative experience, but the repetitive patterns can also seem arbitrary and without meaning. The dancing water of the Electromagnetic Fountain is neither predictable nor random. It draws on data derived from the detection of electromagnetic activity in its immediate surroundings (wireless technology such as mobile phones and surveillance equipment, tram lines, traffic and street lights, antennas, etc) to control the dynamics of the rise and fall of its water jets. In other words, it is the electromagnetic nature of the city that is reflected in the fountain. Like the wind, it is invisible. Unlike the wind, it is not often perceived or reflected upon. By gazing at the fountain, the ethereal body of the invisible twin-city is revealed in a poetic and enigmatic way.

A redundant parabolic antenna dish (acquired from the Tryvann TV transmission tower, Oslo) forms the fountain bowl. It is equipped with devices for detecting and digitizing man-made electromagnetic waves and pulses that flow by it. The data is processed in a computer and spat out again - this time as electrical signals controlling the flow of water through its electrical pumps and valves. During the dark hours underwater lights accompany its uncanny dance.

There is, however, a flip-side to the story. The electromagnetic spectrum is a highly contested private, commercial and political territory, and the increasing use of wireless technology has given rise to concern over environmental and health issues. The fountain, as an electromagnetic barometer, becomes an unusual information display system, a tangible manifestation of this invisible territory.

THANKS TO

The Electromagnetic Fountain is produced by ROM3 in collaboration with NLI Industries AS, with support from Norsk Kulturråd for the production og prototypes.

Special thanks to Per Platou (Motherboard) and Martin Howse for their help and support to the project.

Partners
IKT Grenland / Skien kommune / Porsgrunn kunstforening / Telemark kunstnersenter BEK / BIS Produksjonstjenester / Klosterøya AS / Bautas / Thon Hotel Høyers

Sponsors
Norsk kulturråd / Telemark fylkeskommune / Porsgrunn kommune / Klosterøyafondet

ADRESS
Blog about the process behind The Electromagnetic Fountain: http://ajsteggell.wordpress.com
ROM3: www.rom3.no
Industriselskapet NLI AS: www.nli.no
Motherboard: www.liveart.org
Martin Howse: http//1010.co.uk

BIOGRAPHY
Amanda Steggell: Born in Japan, brought up in England, Amanda Steggell has been based in Oslo since 1986. She has a background in dance and choreography and has worked with digital and communications technologies since 1995. In 1996 she co-founded the live art group Motherboard (www.liveart.org) with Per Platou to explore the potentials of net as a creative, mediating and modulating instance in performance, installation, social, site specific work and live art happenings. Amanda has received a series of grants for her work with performance technologies. In 2007 she completed a three year practical/theoretical investigation of syneasthetic phenomena in a live art context through the National Programme for Research Fellowships in the Arts, Norway. The artistic outcome, the Emotion Organ, has since been exhibited in Norway and abroad. She currently works from a media archaeological perspective, exploring the hopes, dreams and fears that media inventions have brought with them.