Client: Bruntwood

Data fed (unity powered) waterfall installation

Reactive Behaviours

Footfall consists of a digital particle waterfall with ‘rocks’ directing and redirecting the flow of the ‘water’. These rocks represent people, as they enter and leave the building. Picked up by motion sensors, they appear and disappear accordingly. The work is driven by the Unity game engine and randomly cubes.
The cubes are backlit and three-dimensional on the screen.
Footfall is populated by elements that have their own behaviours and reactions.
The volume of footfall is reflected in the quantity of rocks (people) appearing and disappearing within the waterfall, which ebbs and flows as the number of people moving around the space varies. People passing through the waterfall, change the flow of the ‘water’. The downward flow is the consistent aspect of the work; the imagery falls and is deflected, then fractures into smaller and smaller cubes. This hermetically sealed system is spontaneous. It is not created from pre-rendered footage, but instead is a live physical simulation that responds to the movement and data around it. It reflects the life and activity of the building.
The behaviours and appearance of the display are entirely unpredictable and unscripted, allowing truly emergent imagery. As the display is driven by varied data inputs at any one time, it acts as a complimentary and cohesive element to the main entrance, reflecting the time, space and activity around it. The artwork is a living, breathing, unpredictable, yet constrained environment.