Robert Henke
“Nothing is stable. Things change because they are observed; they change because everything is constantly moving, at least on a microscopic scale. The static world is an illusion. States fall apart and so do houses, mountains, and relationships. New structures do emerge; the universe is a constant morphing entity full of motion. Why are watching fireworks so satisfying? The moment of the most magnificent beauty is the turning point, where it all collapses. Without our memories, without the persistence of vision and the reverb of the sounds we heard, it would all be meaningless.” —Robert Henke
We are sorry to announce that this installation has been canceled. We regret any inconvenience and look forward to seeing you at other events, installations, and exhibitions. Using a state-of-the-art laser system to draw with four high-speed dots of light, Fragile Territories creates morphing patterns of volatile luminosity. The process responsible for creating these shapes operates on the idea of uncertainty and change: a computer program evaluates statistical data, grabs momentary states, and feeds them back into its own system; what is displayed and made audible cannot be entirely predicted and will never repeat itself. The sound generation and path of light are both divined from the same program, and are two representations of the same process. The work is constructed around repetitive elements on varying time scales as well as on slow transitions between parameters and states using weighted random functions, thus adding to the notion of instability and potential failure.