On Random Walks Franziska Windisch 2017

The installation On Random Walks revolves around the phenomenon of knots in vibrated granular chains and examines how knots contribute to the understanding of space and movement. In physics, granular chains are used as a model to study the behaviour of string-like objects such as DNA, RNA or polymer macromolecules that often become entangled.

An array of brass plates is set into vibration at infras­onic frequencies, diffused by subwoofers. A bead chain is placed in the center of each plate. Excited by very low, inaudible oscillations they start to move in unpredictable ways, which leads at times to spontaneous knot formations in varying complexity as well as their instantaneous dissolution. The bouncing strings in turn slightly strike the brass plates and create a pulsating field that constantly shifts by time, by the visitors walk through it and the change of one’s perspective.