--> Kinetic Installation O-O-O-O-O

more about O-O-O-O-O
photo of O-O-O-O-O inside the bridge
The view inside the pre-stressed concrete beam of the Deutzer Bridge, Cologne. Outwardly this 1980 bridge has precisely the same shape as an older adjacent steel bridge - the world's first box beam bridge (1948). In the centre runs a tram-way. There is a faint rumble of heavy vehicles and louder intermittent sounds from the trams.


detail photo of O-O-O-O-O inside the bridge The installation, itself silent, was made specifically for this situation. It has since been shown in other configurations in a number of other places.

The five red and white panels are driven by stepping motors, on two-meter-high stands. Each panel is controlled by its own microprocessor. The cable provides the power supply.

The panels all perform exactly the same choreography, turning to and fro with slow and smooth passages interspersed with abrupt faster movements. After a couple of minutes the sequence of movements repeats, but with a fraction of a second delay for each successive panel. So it appears that the movements are transmitted like a ripple along the line. After several such repetitions the delays accumulate and so the dance routine gradually degenerates into a state of apparent chaos - all hopelessly out of sync. At this point the hardware is automatically reset and the installation returns to its previous orderly dance.

The title O-O-O-O-O was suggested to me by Jens Brand via e-mail. I love it - but how do you pronounce it?
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