Trigger Happy - Alpengluehen

Synopsis

Alpengluehen describes the natural phenomena of the sun­rise or -set, illuminating the alpine landscape, evoking images of romanticism and sublime.

This course is interested in a technological augmentation of the pseudo-natural alpine landscape with its dynamic forces and socio/political complexities.

Virtual Realities will speculate how these considerations will impact a specific environment such as the Alpen- the moun­tanous landscape with its particularities, its beauty and fragile ecological - political sytems.

The studio will conjure up a complex hybrid landscape in which real and virtual will mix, hybridise, and augment one another to give rise to mutated digital forms, presented in a real prom­menade d’architecture of the sublime mountains.

IDEATION

In an augmented environment, the deformation of an object is no longer effected by a physical reaction; it is shaped by dif­ferent types of coded information.

Gravity as we know becomes obsolete, it is replaced by num­bers which represent this physical phenomenon, caused in a positive feedback loop, which should be controlled by the “codedesigner” to achieve a desireable result.

To overcome the physcial border with this virtual world, man­kind is still slaved by Triggers - and we are fascinated by the idea of Triggering a virtual augmentation of the real and hence creating a landscape that exist in both realities.

The focus during this term will be on these boundaries, and how they can be created/react to each other, feed from each other creating a constant interplay of actual impulse and vir­tual reaction.

Triggers control and evoke scenarios to be tested - we see them also as images like Bierstadt or other uptopian artists, that then tested ideas with the visualisation, augmentation of the actual. What is this digital flesh, which melts on the etched mainboards of our computers?

The borders as we know will disappear.

Trigger Happy / Alpenglühen is the amalgamation of the digital and the real, physical space within the sourroundings of Inns­bruck.

Similar to polarbears we will react - act and set out to test the notions of augmentation and hybrisisation.

TRIGGERS

This course seeks to build physical installations that are able to read the landscape and transform dynamic markers into an augmentation - a possible feedback system and ultimatly a new landscape.

The triggers are

Biological

Chemical

Mechanic

Electric

Sound

Pressure

Mass

METHODS

This course is based on extensivly self studies, but will also supported by international Workshops and design seminars.

workshops will be around:

arduino programming

AR marker technologies

All students have to upload their process to our blog website

http://virtualrealitiesalpengluehen.blogspot.com/

and will have feedback via Email.

Please have in mind that your design you will need to consider a physical trigger to an augmented scenario!