A Communicative Bunch Of Bags

This truly fantastic breathing beast named ‘One Hundred and Eight’ is an interactive, wall-mounted installation by Berlin-based media artist Nils Völker.

Main ingredient of the artwork is the ordinary plastic shopping bag. Here you see 108 of them. Controlled by a micro-controller, each one is selectively inflated and deflated in turn by two cooling fans. Explains Völker, “although each plastic bag is mounted stationary the sequences of inflation and deflation create the impression of lively and moving creatures which waft slowly around like a shoal”.

The best feature of ‘One Hundred and Eight’ is its ability to react on gestures from passers-by. As soon as a viewer comes close and remains in a certain area in front of the the creature, it instantly reacts by drawing back and and tentatively following the observer’s movements. As soon it does no longer detect someone close, it reorganizes itself after a while and gently restarts wobbling around… waiting for the next spectator to hypnotize. Visit the project’s website for more photos and one more video.

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