On Friday 25 January we were treated to a Lunchtime Talk by designer Helen White. In early January Helen joined the Studio on a three month Communicating Science Residency, supported by IOP Publishing.

Following a career in the music industry, Helen recently graduated from UWE with a first class degree in Design: Materials/Process/Context. Her work combines an interest in data collection with a fascination for transient environmental phenomena. By harnessing the power and unpredictability of unseen atmospheric conditions in conjunction with technology, Helen aims to stimulate contemplative reconnections between environment and user, by bringing a sense of event and performance to the architecture of our cities. Helen explained that she is interested in revealing spaces and experiences in everyday life that are often missed or forgotten.

She spoke about her previous work ‘Blowlight’, where she collected data from nature and used it as a trigger for an ever-changing pattern of light. Blowlight is a demonstrative installation that reacts directly to wind. Using a panel of sensors that pick up the movement and power of airflow, a unique pattern of ever-changing lights is triggered. You can watch a video of the prototype of Blowlight in action here. In the future Helen would like to see whole buildings clad in sensor-reactive LEDs that glow as the wind sweeps across their surfaces.  

Helen then explained she applied for the communicating science residency to make a ‘solar wind chime.’ With media attention on solar flares and their effects on positive events (the northern lights) or predicted negative events (technological disruption,) Helen will be exploring the upsurge in the availability of solar wind information on a global scale, seeking to find a physical form for an aesthetically bereft mass of data.

Helen explained that she is still in the research stage of her project but it may be an installation that is powered by real-time data triggering an audible and visual record of the movement of charged particles released from the sun. The regularity of these emissions can be very unpredictable and erratic, sometimes with very little activity for days. Helen is interested in providing an ambient experience with the potential for sporadically dramatic movements, to intrigue the viewer. She is also interested in slowing people down from their busy lives to encourage more meaningful, reflective engagement with natural phenomena.

Helen then showed us a LED strip that herself and Dan had programmed to react to solar wind speed levels. She explained that although the results hadn’t been particularly dynamic, it was a really useful way to begin the process of data visualisation. As part of her residency Helen is blogging about her progress on the iShed website here. Her recent blog ‘Even homing pigeons lose their way sometimes’ explores geomagnetic storms & documents her trip to the extraordinary Light Show at the Hayward Gallery.  

To find out more about Helen’s work you can visit her website here.