TURING TABLES

An Untitled Composition for Tectonic Spaces

Madrid, Berlin, San Francisco, Basel, Amster­dam, Valencia …
Since 2001, infinitely (relativly)

Turing Tables
Observatori Festival, Valencia, Spanien 2003
Observatori Festival, Valencia, Spanien 2003
Observatori Festival, Valencia, Spanien 2003
Observatori Festival, Valencia, Spanien 2003
Turing Tables
Turing Tables (detail)
Turing Tables (detail)
Turing Tables (detail)
Turing Tables
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Turing Tables
Turing Tables (detail)
Turing Tables (detail)
Turing Tables (detail)
Turing Tables
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Since 2001, Turing Tables has been shown world­wide at nu­mer­ous exhibi­tions in gal­ler­ies, museums and at art festi­­vals, inclu­­ding the Explo­ra­­to­rium San Francisco (USA), the Media Lab Madrid (ES), the ZKM Karls­ruhe (D), the Edith-Russ-Haus Olden­burg (D) and the Obser­va­­tory Festi­val in Valencia (ES).

Book publication ERDE,  Kunst und Aus­stel­lungs­halle der Bundes­republik Deutsch­land, 2002, Don’t forget about Earth!, con­ver­­sation Bernd Busch – Franz John. (excerpt)
Several million earth­quakes of dif­ferent inten­si­ties occur each year. Seismo­logi­cal insti­tutes through­­­out the world measure these vibra­tions and ex­change and com­muni­cate this collected data among them­selves via auto­mated inter­net–trans­fers.It is this meta–per­ception that Franz John makes visi­ble in his pro­ject Turing Tables si­phon­ing this human–machine–com­muni­ca­tion data stream di­rect­ly from inter­net servers of seismo­graphic insti­tutes and bringing it into his online instal­lation. In a mat­ter of seconds, this instal­lation con­verts these measure­ments from the seismo­logical sta­tions into sound and image. From the per­spec­tive of a “global eye” the inter­net di­rect­­ly con­nects the obser­ver with the pul­sating core of the earth. This pro­ject is there­fore not about the catas­tro­phes that cause these move­ments in inhabi­ted areas, but in­stead about the archaic feeling and conscious­ness that the earth is an or­gan­ism, that it moves and that it can be under­stood as an or­gan­ism in con­stant flux. «This artis­tic reali­zation is based on the machine–theory of the mathe­ma­­ti­cian Alan Turing(*), wherein my interest is not in the number–chain itself but rather in the tec­tonic forces and ener­gies of a matrix which is visibly and continu­ally up­dating and re­newing itself.«

Annotation(*): Alan Turing (1912-1954) is today re­garded as one of the most influen­tial theo­rists of early com­put­er develop­ment and com­put­er science.

 


The Turing Tables project was developed over several years through cooperation and exchange with numerous scientists and researchers. Special thanks to: Dr. Charles Estabrook, seismologist, San Francisco; John C. Lahr, seismologist, U.S. Geological Survey; Dr. Winfried Hanka, seismo­logist, GFZ Potsdam; Dr. Udo Thiedeke, sociologist, Universität Mainz, ArtBit. Special thanks also to Mona Mur (musician) and to Dirk Schubert (program­mer) for their collabo­ration on the first version of Turing Tables  2000 – 2002. The current version of Turing Tables (since 2003) was developed in collaboration with sound artist Ed Osborn (Oakland, CA) and brsma (Berlin)

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