Monument for
a Vacuum Robot
Type
Sculpture & Light Installation
Material
Iron / Concrete / LED
Year
2023
In a world, where a vacuum robot is able to evoke empathy, he serves as a diplomat, levitating on the intersection of these two dimensions - reality and digitality.
Honoring his accomplishments and messages, the ornaments are communicating to both worlds.
The Monument
A concrete sculpture of a vacuum robot, levitating in a metal ring and surrounded by LED fans showing various messages, ornaments and illustrations.
The Vacuum Robot
Levitating in a metal ring, held by thin wires, is a concrete sculpture of a Roomba E5 vacuum robot. It was made from a highly detailed silicon cast of this model, so it can be reproduced in different materials.
The hand bend and welded metal ring itself, with its vertical bar on top, forms a power symbol that might hold great cultural and spiritual significance to devices like him.
The Messangers
Specifically programmed LED fans communicate the monuments messages and ornaments. As frequences of light, they leave a perfect afterimage on a human's retina but work in the same way as digital communication between devices. Therefore, they exist at the intersection of reality and the digital world, just as does the vacuum robot itself.
Mentoring
Prof. Uli Cluss
Production Support
Thomas Breitenfeld
Shinroku Shimokawa
Tilmann Eberwein
Sebastian Lotz
The Ornaments
Almost like holograms, the LED fans show messages connected to the robot's life and his values. To further include both worlds, all messages are shown in letters and in patterns consisting of points and lines, that can be deciphered through binary code.
Additionally, several circular illustrations serve as the monument's ornaments, showing important scenes and metaphors from his life.
In total, about eighty of these individual messages were designed, programmed, and uploaded onto the LED fans.
The Process
