Erratic Logic

Film contolled by realtime lightning
Made using Touchdesigner and data from lightningmaps.org, 5’0”
In collaboration with Ayla Kekhia, Elsa Casanova-Sampe, and Gianmarco Ciuccciove, starring Barbara
2021

The recent emergence of planetary sensor networks potentiates a new form of geo-cinema: a cinema produced by and through the earth. Rejecting the purity of the traditional cinematic object, this short film welcomes disturbance from the outside, inviting lightning to act as coproducer. A global network of DIY sensors generates a real-time map of lightning strikes happening throughout the world. The film latches onto this data stream, and is manipulated in real time by the activity of the lightning.

Each time that the film is screened, the output is different, depending on the activity in the sky on that day. During our final presentation, for example, the narrative was driven primarily by a large storm in Australia.