Taubman College Marshall commissioned for Folkestone Triennial 2014
Assistant Professor John Marshall’s studio rootoftwo has been commissioned to create Whithervanes, “a neurotic early worrying system” for Folkestone Triennial 2014. Folkestone Triennial is one of the UK’s most ambitious public art exhibitions.
rootoftwo are creating a network of sculptures of five headless chickens, to be presented on the highest points of five buildings. The buildings have been selected for their prominence and significance to the community in which they are placed, as well as for their height. The Whithervanes, 21st Century weathervanes, will track and measure the production of fear on the Internet.
Their software looks for predetermined keywords related to fear (e.g. natural disaster, economic collapse, war, etc.) in newsfeeds from Reuters. When fear is encountered, the chickens respond by rotating at increasing speeds and are illuminated different colors. They share real time news-feed data from around the world and passers-by will be able to influence their behavior via Twitter. This ‘early worrying system’ highlights how much our contemporary media, policy and political frameworks utilize fear as a persuasive method.
Visit the Folkstone Triennial website for more information.
