Notes from the n_polytype installation at Stadtbad Wedding, part of Transmediale and CTM 2014.
n_polytype is a light, sound, and architectural environment installation in an abandoned swimming hall complex, using smoke, lighting, lasers, sound, and sensory and artificial intelligence software technologies. It’s based on the works of composer Iannis Xenakis.
I found the installation part wonderful and part sort-of-not. The sensory and artificial intelligence parts, I really have no idea how, where, why or even IF they worked. My bullshit-o-meter showed some activity on the needles. But that didn’t really matter, the installation is really great to experience and get drawn into.
I stayed on the floor for a long while, listening, looking, drifting, observering, and I really liked the sounds, shifting and drifting soundscapes of tiny glitches, pulses, there was a nice dynamic and structure to the experience. The sound was great, for being in a pool full of tiled walls. I always appreciate it when sound design takes the room acoustics into proper consideration. The blinking lights where moving and pulsing in intriguing patterns in the wires stretched out above the pool in a mesh. Repetitive over time, but with long enough loops to never get boring.
Approved, A+++, would go for a sensory swim again.
