Jakob Kilian
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An installation shooting smoke signs as vortex rings from left to right. On the right side there is a portal that detects incoming vortex rings.
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BinAIRy Talk

  • An interactive installation that transmits binary data through air by means of smoke vortex rings. A visitor types a message on a keyboard; the text is encoded into binary and fired across the room as precisely timed vortex rings — donut-shaped formations of fog that hold their shape as they travel through the air. A laser sensor on the other side receives and decodes them — translating the physical pulse back through binary and ASCII into legible text, completing the full chain of encoding and transmission in physical space. The work renders the abstract logic of digital communication tangible and immediate, layering three conceptual registers at once: the Shannon–Weaver model of information theory, the ancient practice of smoke signalling as the oldest form of long-distance communication, and the binary code that underlies all digital data. Developed together with Niklas Isselburg, the installation attracted broad attention online and was exhibited at festivals across Europe, including LAB30 in Augsburg and PIKSEL in Bergen.

Concept, Design, Production

Jakob Kilian, Niklas Ißelburg

Software

Jakob Kilian

Physical Prototyping

Niklas Ißelburg

Video & Photo

Jakob Kilian
  • project
  • areas design, tech
  • tags arduino, art, binary data, crafts, exhibition, installation, wood
BINAIRY TALK @ LAB 30 (2014)
BINAIRY TALK @ PIKSEL (2014)
BINAIRY TALK (Original 2014)

Reception

Exhibitions: LAB30 Festival in Augsburg, Germany (2014); PIKSEL Festival in Bergen, Norway (2014); PASSAGEN – Interior Design Week in Köln, Germany (2015)

Media coverage: Wired, The Verge, Vice, Engadget, Core 77, Animal New York

In Print: Beseelte Dinge: Design aus Perspektive des Animismus (2016, transcript, Bielefeld), 

More Impressions

Technical Overview