Similarly to 4.0, this version evolved its mode of interaction towards a web-based application using gaze-tracking in personal mobile devices and its…
Proteus is a collaborative project continuously evolving as a series of mixed-media interactive installations integrating human and machine intelligence to interact with organic material behaviour, digital modulation, and human perception. A common material vector to the series gathers the unique characteristics of ferrofluid — a colloidal material that dynamically alters its shape under magnetic influence — to evoke an elemental, elusive presence akin to the ancient god Proteus, a foretelling deity reappraised and characterised anew throughout digitised communication. As Proteus shifts between forms to evade truth, it becomes a contemplative meditation on change, unpredictability, and the vast unknown. This behaviour speaks to the universal myth of the desire to understand and categorize phenomena that resist stable form.
Similarly to 4.0, this version evolved its mode of interaction towards a web-based application using gaze-tracking in personal mobile devices and its architectural counterpart as a modular and non-site-specific installation embodying interactions happening fluently across the digital infrastructure in a single physical space. As a direct reference to post-war architectural megastructures and the concept of ‘proteinic architecture’ from Yona Friedman in the 70’s last century, the installation mirrors the internet’s distributed nature by spatial articulations of scattered digital screens and mirrors in a modular manner. Reflections on rippled metal panels strengthen the immersive character of the installation, and the golden material used drives us back to the Greek mythology of Proteus and his ability to reveal precious secrets and truths upon capturing. The installation takes the shape of a shimmering ocean pouring out in the gallery space as a recall of internet digital infrastructure and a natural habitat of our prophetic deity. The interactive visuals are based on the constantly changing behaviour of digitised ferrofluid, conveying uncertainty in human interactions. Observing a slow-paced evolution of ferropatterns encourages AI-powered mindfulness to counter the digital age’s attention economy characterised by distraction and information overload occurring while Interacting On The Networked Planet.
Adapting to its temporary habitat conditions, as it does for the truth it is telling, Proteus shifts the shape of its installation to become site-specific to each venue.
Installation for Who Is Playing WIth Us?, at ESC Medien Kunst, Graz, 2024.
Series: Proteus
Version: 4.1
Title: Interacting On The Networked Planet
Year: 2024
Type: Interactive and Generative Installation
Authors: CompMonks, Maria Smigielska
Dimensions / Format: var.
Materials: Digital screens, Raspberry Pis, rippled metal panels, reinforcement learning, wood carpentry
Funding: ESC Medien Kunst, Ars Electronica
Production: ESC Medien Kunst
Exhibitions: Who Is Playing With Us? (Esc Media Art Laboratory, 2024),Qualia (WRO Art Center, 2025),Hope, The Touch of Many (Ars Electronica Festival, 2024)
©CompMonks, Maria Smigielska, Photo: Markus Gross, ESC