Introduction
Evolution happens not just as a result of random genetic mutations or highly focused scientific engineering: the ordinary and sometimes fickle choices people make over the course of their lives also have a unique, cumulative effect. Pet owners affect evolution by favoring a breed. Potential lovers evaluate each other against subjective standards of beauty. Gardeners choose some plants over others, imprinting their tastes on the genetic makeup of the planet. Whether they are aware of it or not, people map out the world's biological future with their behavior.
Evolve is a sound and fire installation that symbolizes humanity's impact on natural evolution. A large steel and glass double helix stands at the center, illuminated by fire and surrounded by music. Participants entering the installation introduce new notes and melodies into the soundscape. The fire reacts and dances along to the music. Over the course of a week, the installation composes new music based on participants' behavior within the installation as well as their input via an electronic voting system.
The changes people make to Evolve manifest over the course of a week and represent on a small scale the power and impact human participation has on the evolution of life on earth.
Design Overview
Evolve's central sculpture is a 16-foot tall, 4-foot wide steel double helix connected by clear glass tubes. Standing 25 feet from it is a 2-foot tall, 6-inch wide double helix, also steel and glass, mounted on a pedestal that also houses a speaker. Rounding out a 25-foot radius circle from the central sculpture are 3 cubes that act as speakers, seating, and lighting.
The central helix sculpture is a frame holding 8 Pyrex Ruben's tubes.
Ruben's tubes respond to certain frequencies of sound by making pretty wave forms in the fire that burns along the top of the tube1. Because only certain frequencies create stable waves for a given length of time, Evolve's music will run through a processor to generate tones in the main sculpture that will generate more attractive waveforms in the fire. Thus the fire will still respond and dance to the music but in a controlled and aesthetically pleasing way. When not manned by one of Evolve's team, the tubes in the central sculpture will be lit by LEDs instead of fire.
The smaller helix sculpture is a scale model of the central sculpture and is a unique version of a Theremin, an instrument played by moving one's hands in the space around the antenna. Participants' movements around Evolve's Theremin will be translated into new tones and melodies in the music playing around them. By playing with the small helix sculpture, a few participants can direct the evolution of the music in the short-term. The speaker cubes at the perimeter of the installation project the soundscape. They also provide seating and act as a lighted safety barrier. The cubes will also be wired with electronic voting machines: as participants experience Evolve, they can approve or reject the current music with a press of a button. Votes accumulate and affect the software algorithm that directs the composition of the music. By playing with the voting machines, many participants can direct the evolution of the music in the long-term.
Music
The music that Evolve plays will be an evolving, generative music soundscape. It is driven by a Theremin and evolves over time by allowing participants to vote on the generated soundscapes -- in much the same manner that Spot Draves's "Electric Sheep" evolves over time as viewers vote on the fractal flames. Theremins have a deceptively simple interface -- they make music based on how close one is to a pair of antennae -- and are notoriously difficult to play, requiring fine motor control and a very good ear. Evolve's system proposes to mitigate this problem by using the Theremin as input to a generative music algorithm that harmonizes the Theremin input, adjusts further input to harmonically match the current soundscape, and adds a small amount of ambient background to round out the sound.
If the system is already playing when someone walks up and starts to play with the Theremin, it will respond strongly when the user hits notes that match the currently playing soundscape, and diminish inputs that do not sound "good." Thus the player is unobtrusively guided to interact with the system in a way that enhances the current soundscape.
What does it mean for notes to "match" the soundscape, or for the inputs to sound "good"? That's where artificial evolution comes in. There will be a pair of buttons for anyone listening to vote yea or nay on the current soundscape -- or more particularly, on the strategy the system uses to evaluate and harmonize a given input with the soundscape. When a strategy receives a number of "yea" votes, it combines with other strategies that have also received favorable votes to form a new strategy -- a kind of sonic sexual reproduction. Strategies that participants do not like (by showering them with "nay" votes) do not get to reproduce and send their "genes" to the next generation. Participants then hear the new generation of strategies, vote on them, and the cycle continues, allowing the soundscapes to evolve over time.
Lighting
Each component of the Evolve project will be lit by LEDs. A 125-watt solar panel charging a bank of batteries during the day will provide nighttime power.
The central helix sculpture has LEDs illuminating each glass tube in one of four colors. The smaller sculpture is also wired with LEDs, in a configuration identical to the central sculpture. Additionally, each speaker box has extremely bright LEDs illuminating the area around it, and simple garden-style solar lights will punctuate the perimeter of the installation.
Core Team
David Fine is an electronics artist who has built components for and worked on such projects as 2PiR, Dance Dance Immolation, and the Flaming Lotus Girls' Serpent Mother. In 2006 he teamed up with J. Moore of SRL to build an RFID controlled cocktail robot that won him an artist's residency in Vienna with Monochrom (starting November 2007). He'll be a core member of the Evolve team, involved in all stages of the project from design to on-playa support.
Simran Gleason is our resident audio maven. His current passion is algorithmic music generation -- making computers make music that actually sounds good. He's built and written the audio software for several interactive audio installations at Burning Man and beyond. He's composed music for several more. A short list of his on-playa work:
Andy (andyllama) Lash is a founding member and leading light of the You Are That Pig camp. He's run art for the camp, built the solar power grid/custom lighting fixtures, and been a core member on most of the camp's major projects. He's also an Executive Director for the EvilAlien arts organization. In 2006 he built the interactive Swingset (a steel and electronics project that translates motion into color) for YATP's Night Playground and was a major contributor to the Pigmobile art car project. His main interests are metalwork, solar power, and electronics.
Nicole Aptekar is a member of Interpretive Arson. Last year she brought a large scale interactive large installation, 2PiR, to Black Rock City. She's also an integral member of the team that built and maintains Dance Dance Immolation. Her day job has her building large Pyrex sculptures at Nikolas Weinstein Studio. We're really excited to have Nicole on board as not only a glass expert and fire specialist but also a brilliant creative resource.
Ian Baker is a key artist for Dance Dance Immolation -- he designed and built its fuel system and dance pads. He's also worked on the design and fabrication of the fire project 2PiR. As a founding member of Interpretive Arson, Ian's specialties include fuel systems, electronic control systems, tank heating systems, and flame protection systems. In 2006 he taught machine-based fire art classes at Burning Man. He's technical director with The Nekyia and a member of Copper Lantern.
Simon Sutherland is a 10-year playa veteran who's been involved in more playa art projects than he can count. Last year he conceived and designed You Are That Pig's Pigmobile. He's also built multiple projects with Thunderdome and Moons of Mongo. Simon made the 3D model and artist's drawings for this proposal and will bring his many fabrication skills to bear during the production period. As a large-scale project, Evolve will draw on many other people in the community during its fabrication, installation, and operational phases.
Other members
Fire Safety
The 8 Ruben's tubes are Evolve's only flame effects. While the flames will jump a bit as the music changes, they are a continuous flame effect with constant gas pressure and no accumulators. No fire will come within two feet of the playa, and no heat will be directed downward. Thus the risk to the playa surface is considered negligible.
The fuel is placed in its own locked wooden enclosure, stored 50 feet away from the central sculpture. This enclosure will feature a water bath to keep the two 100-pound tanks at specified pressure. A small pump and water heating system may be necessary to keep the water from freezing.
A single buried 50-foot, half-inch copper tube will feed gas from the depot to the Ruben's tubes. On the outside of the enclosure is a well-marked, unlocked main shutoff value -- a quarter turn ball valve. A second shutoff valve (quarter turn ball valve) exists at the base of the large sculpture. While anyone can turn the shutoff valves off, the tank valves will be locked so only operators can start the flame effects.
In the event of an emergency, the operator will turn the gas off using the main shutoff valve unless the depot itself is on fire or it looks otherwise unsafe to do so. Four 10-pound type BC fire extinguishers will be placed around the piece Ð three at the further speaker boxes and one at the fuel depot. All will be visible and clearly marked.
Additionally, one advantage to Evolve's design is that it's still interactive when the flame effects are off. This means Evolve can continue operating even when a trained operator is not available to run it. The fire portion of the project will never be left running unattended.
Although Evolve will be built to withstand the challenging desert conditions, the flame effects or electronics will not be run in very harsh weather. Per NFPA 160 standards, we are not to have more than a day's fuel on hand at a time, so we will need an on-playa refill once per day. As part of daily clean-up duties, we will ensure easy access to fill the tanks.
Environmental Impact
In keeping with the 2007 Green Man theme, the Evolve team is taking the project's larger environmental impact into consideration. In terms of greenhouse gases,
Evolve will generate:
The Evolve team is committed to mitigating this impact and is currently considering whether to take direct action or simply purchase greenhouse gas offsets.
On-Playa Setup Plan
This piece can fit in a small rental truck. However, our intention is to share costs by sharing space on the trucks rented by other artists, potentially You Are That Pig and Interpretive Arson (2PiR and Dance Dance Immolation). We're planning to arrive on playa on Friday August 24th to set the piece up. We'll have a total of 5 people in our setup crew. Major setup tasks:
i. Unpack
ii. Survey site for placement
iii. Dig fuel line trench from fuel depot to central sculpture. We'll borrow the
trenching tool from 2PiR.
iv. Dig 3 smaller wiring trenches from speaker boxes to central sculpture.
v. Place and rebar speaker boxes
vi. Place and rebar pedestal for small sculpture
vii. Place and rebar fuel depot
viii. Place and rebar power depot
ix. Setup power grid, calibrate solar panel
x. Setup small sculpture, amplifiers, and computer
xi. Assemble base and 4 modular sections of large sculpture. We're hoping
for crane or scissor lift assistance with this, so time of installation depends
on when that assistance is available.
xii. Run wires and attach fuel lines
xiii. Test and calibrate piece
Strike and Cleanup
Strike begins on Monday September 3rd and ends by Tuesday September 4th. We'll have 5 members in our breakdown crew, and they will bring their own tools. Major breakdown tasks:
i. Remove wiring and detach fuel lines
ii. Disassemble large sculpture into modular sections. We're hoping for a
crane or scissor lift to help with this.
iii. Repack all glass tubes
iv. Repack computer and amplifiers
v. Remove pedestal, small sculpture, and speaker boxes
vi. Repack solar and power gear
vii. Remove fuel and power depots
viii. Fill in wiring trenches
ix. Fill in fuel trenches
x. Fill in rebar holes
xi. De-moop site by first walking and then raking site
xii. Ensure that we leave no trace