Behaviour

Behaviourally, the homunculus.agora installation can be understood as a simulated ecology, and is therefore a reflection of the Green Belt in behaviour as well as in form. The concept of ecology is present in the social interaction that the work facilitates, as well as in the behaviour of the light and sound events in the sculpture itself. The term agora is a Greek word describing a place for gathering [1]. In this context the homunculi gather in the museum to facilitate an exchange of emotive expression in a behavioural ecology of light and sound. It also serves as a gathering place for people to reflect on the reciprocal connection we have with the environment and the world around us. It is a context for a marketplace of ideas.

The life-cycle behaviour of homunculus.agora consists of a continuous cycle of high and low energy activity that mimics resting and wake rhythms in living beings. The generative logic and its behaviour are executed by a central computer that interfaces with an nD::node (see hardware system).

When unattended, or simply observed, homunculus.agora exhibits a continuous flow of ever-changing light patterns and sound events, which are an expression of the life cycles that make-up the generative logic of the work. A subset of the homunculi were mounted on the floor and fitted with sensors to make them responsive to a person's touch. When someone touches the petals of one of the floor pieces it responds with a display of localized light activity near the location of contact and with a corresponding sound. This display is the expression of pleasure that starts as a localized event, but soon dissipates throughout the cluster of the homunculus.agora, merging the individual oscillating life cycles of the cluster together. Each petal-like limb is stimulated independently from another allowing for several people to interact with the work simultaneously.

The experience of interacting with a homunculus is like communing with an affectionate creature that expresses itself through a visual-musical language. To deepen this connection a homunculi is an interactive sculptural object that is intended to exhibit an affordance of play. This is achieved through the multi-sensory expression of the homunculi’s simple animal-like behaviour through the modalities of sound and light; and through responses to the caresses on its shell-like body when being touched.

[1] See Agora: from the Ancient History Encyclopedia: http://www.ancient.eu/agora/