ANIMA II by Nick Verstand
ANIMA II(2017) by Nick Verstand is the second version of a previous work ANIMA(2014). ANIMA II is inspired by the four thousand years old Chinese philosophy of “Wu Xing,” the “Five Elements” of the universe, also means the ever-evolving “Five Stages” that the universe has: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The system of “Wu Xing” describes the interactions and relationships between phenomena: which can be natural phenomena, or the interaction between the internal and external self. By balancing the five qualities, one is able to actualize their inner self.
I was at the premiere exhibition of this piece after I read about it. I admire how this audio-visual piece strikes me as extremely organic, peaceful and engaging. The globe has an internal hemispherical projector, that projects fluid visuals that are algorithmically generated and transition between the five stages. The visual is accompanied by a spatial sound composition constructed from recordings of corresponding five elements in nature. It also the globe communicates to human approaching. It uses 3 Kinect sensors to decide faster or slower diffusion of fluid based on human locations.
The work is created by a group of people/studios; it took years to complete; used projector, hemispherical lens, 8.1 speaker system, 4DSOUND software, and openFrameworks.