New project at the Oslo Architecture Triennale

Jørn Knutsen | 7. September 2016

The Oslo Architecture Triennale opens tomorrow, 8. september at DoGa. We were commissioned to design and produce a piece under their theme "On Residence, in which to collectively analyze the spatial conditions that shape our ways of staying in transit and the definition of our contemporary spaces of residence."

Our contribution is an extension of the work we have been doing in the Immaterials project, called Immaterials at Home. Contemporary homes incorporate an increasing number of networked objects, including phones, TVs, and light bulbs. Data is streamed in and out of homes across them. The processes that make these circulations possible are both mundane and obscure. What does the networked landscape of a contemporary home look like? Immaterials at Home investigates commonplace technologies of contemporary living, by creating instruments and visualizations to make this technological domestic landscape accessible as a cultural phenomenon.

At DoGa we exhibit a work in progress version of the project, two films and an instrument that shows in- and out-going data-traffic of a networked device in realtime. The GIFs you see here are snippets from the two longer films. The LED display visualises the data-packets going in and out of the device as you interact with it. The display provides a lens into the intricate patterns of the network. The films documents some of these network-glimpses throughout a family home in Oslo.

The project will be documented in full later this year.