spherical wooden sculpture by semiconductor makes scientific data tangible

spherical wooden sculpture by semiconductor makes scientific data tangible
‘cosmos’ sculpture, 2014
all images courtesy of semiconductor

semiconductor, the UK-based artist duo comprising ruth jarman and joe gerhardt, have extended reality in the natural physical world with their latest installation, ‘cosmos’. located in the forestry commissions alice holt forest, a two meter spherical wooden sculpture has been formed from scientific data, making it tangible in a three-dimensional form. the intervention was conceived using one year’s worth of carbon dioxide patterns and measurements from the forest trees, which were collected above a 28m high flux tower located nearby the site.

according to the studio, ‘the definition of cosmos is a complete, orderly, harmonious system and here refers to the sources of the combined data which work in harmony to make the forest what it is.’ the visual patterns and shapes are visualized and revealed thanks to a series of custom digital techniques, which are then used to translate data from strings of numbers into 3D shapes. the result is a collection of complex grooves produced by the waveforms and patterns in the collected information.

‘through this process of re-contextualizing the data it has becomes abstract in form and meaning, taking on sculptural properties.’ they add. ‘these sculptural forms become unreadable within the context of science, yet become a physical form we can see, touch, experience and readable in a new way. here, humanizing the data offers a new perspective of the natural world it is documenting.’ cosmos was commissioned through jerwood open forest, a partnership between jerwood charitable foundation and forestry commission england.

cosmos being installed on site at the forestry commissions alice holt forest

data was collected above a 28m high flux tower located nearby the site

process – detail of a wooden section from the 2-meter sculpture