News
Global Wind Day - Celebrate the Power of Wind
Global Wind Day is an event that occurs each year on the 15th of June. The day itself is about exploring the idea of wind energy, how powerful it is and the opportunities that we have available to us to create new energy infrastructures, reach decarbonisation targets, and boost job availability.
In this blog, we’ll be talking about what Global Wind Day is, what it’s for, why it’s important and how we’ve been influenced by this powerful energy source.
Background
The power of wind from an artistic perspective has interested Mike Blow for many years, and it was a huge inspiration to him when he was putting together the Aeolus Online project.
However, scientific innovation has also enabled this incredible natural resource to further our push for sustainable energy and a better future for all. In fact, it is now one of the fastest-growing industrial sectors on the planet, with the UK and EU investing £37billion in wind energy projects in 2020 alone.
In fact, as per an International Energy Agency report, wind and solar capability will double by 2024, thereby exceeding that of both gas and coal.
Global Wind Day is the result of a coalition between WindEurope and the Global Wind Energy Council.
Global Wind Day is a chance for communities around the world to learn more about various kinds of wind power and how they can proactively support initiatives to support alternative energy endeavours.
This also provides an opportunity for businesses to unveil new technologies and explain how their roles are contributing to sustainability efforts.
The wind supply chain is providing electrical power to regions across the world, including those which are economically less stable. In fact, the statistics show that the wind industry employed somewhere in the region of 1,165,000 people across the world in 2019, up from 500,000 ten years earlier.
As part of the Global Wind Day, WindEurope and GWEC launch numerous initiatives and competitions to bring awareness to their cause. The most recent of which, in 2019, was called Future Wind; a photography competition that challenged participants to capture the wind in a creative way, whilst considering content, composition and technique.
Whatever initiatives are laid out for Global Wind Day they are all carefully selected to align with ROMEO Project – an advanced European programme that supports and promotes innovation and in-depth research. Its primary goal is to develop advanced technologies that ensure the operation and maintenance of wind technology can be significantly reduced.
Why is Wind Energy So Crucial?
A wind turbine placed thoughtfully and carefully is capable of producing electricity up to 85% of the time. Of course, the output varies considerably depending on the speed of the wind.
Wind energy is championed by governments and businesses alike and is considered to be extremely important to the UK, but why exactly is it such a good thing?
Global offshore wind technology is being led by the UK, which has more projects underway than any other country in the world.
In 2018, 24% of the UK’s renewable electricity was generated by wind power, and offshore wind accounted for 8% of this electricity.
There are many considerable advantages to wind power, such as:
- Generating energy from wind doesn’t release any carbon emissions.
- By utilising electricity generated from renewable sources, wind energy leads to a net reduction in carbon emissions
- The energy used to manufacture and install the turbines, while itself producing carbon emissions, is offset very quickly throughout the turbine’s life cycle.
- Wind energy is an incredibly clean energy source, which is free of pollution or wastage whilst in operation.
The Inspiration Behind Aeolus Online
As we mentioned briefly, Aeolus Online is the result of a long-time interest in the idea of wind and the environment from sound artist Mike Blow.
This interactive virtual art piece is partly inspired by a physical sound sculpture created by Mike himself back in 2013. However, as an artist Mike was most keen to harness and explore the natural strength of wind energy to create a wholly immersive artistic experience that could be enjoyed by all.
Visitors can interact with the cabinet online, and open each of the drawers to hear wind sounds caught by contributors from all over the planet.
Mike says: "For this project, we had wind recordings submitted from all over the world, some with names, some without, some fierce and some playful, some blowing though trees and some resonating in pipes or old stone huts."
He continues, “no matter where in the world it is from, the wind is familiar to all of us, and speaks of distant origins and destinations, of the past and of the future.”
Celebrate Global Wind Day and Start Your Aeolus Online Experience Here
24/05/2021: The Technology Behind Aeolus Online!
When we began developing Aeolus Online, we enlisted the help of creative technologist Christopher Hunt of Controlled Frenzy, to help bring Mike Blow's vision into the virtual realm.
To provide a deeper understanding of the project, we thought
it'd be worthwhile going into detail about this project and how it evolved into
the finished sound sculpture you can now experience here.
Background
The Aeolus Online sound sculpture showcases various wind sounds, and is inspired by a sound sculpture made by Dr Mike Blow back in 2013.
In 2020, once it became clear that the COVID-19 pandemic would severely diminish opportunities to showcase physical works, he was approached by long-term collaborator Edmund Harcourt of Hogarth Productions, suggesting ways in which to digitise art online. This would also provide the ability to reach a much wider audience, many of whom would not usually engage with the arts.
Once the project was granted Arts Council England funding, Chris came on board and provided his thoughts about using still imagery, video and 2D to capture the physical cabinet, before the idea of devising a full 3D rendering came about.
Chris utilised an evolving technology, now used extensively
in the gaming industry, known as RealityCapture.
RealityCapture Explained
RealityCapture is a specialised photogrammetry software that formulates three-dimensional models from photographs, laser scans and high-quality video. Although it is now being recognised in the artistic community for projects involving gaming and visual effects, it is most often used in urban planning, virtual reality and mapping.
In the summer of 2020, Chris and Edmund went to a property in Reading where the physical Aeolus Cabinet had been stored.
Using a combination of a DSLR camera and his iPhone, Chris took thousands of images and videos of the cabinet and the attic environment where it was stored.
As Chris explains, "The nice thing about this technique is that it isn't perfect. So, we were able to capture all the imperfections of the cabinet, which really comes through online".
He continues, "This was important to all of us as we were really keen from the beginning to capture a strong storytelling element."
As well as the cabinet itself, Chris was able to map the
attic surroundings in 3D too, which has really contributed to the atmosphere
that gives the piece such an ethereal, almost otherworldly quality.
The Final Version
The result of the technology is an online work that showcases an old-fashioned index cabinet discarded in an attic. Users can navigate their way around the cabinet, and open each drawer to listen to wind sounds captured from around the world.
Each of the twelve drawers is assigned a recording, and uses will hear these sounds as each drawer is opened, as well as the details of each of the artists who contributed to this sound sculpture.
When Mike and Edmund began their conversation about online projects, they hoped to take inspiration from Mike's work in order to reach a bigger audience online, and the team believe that the response from the public and the artists, who submitted their wind sounds, wouldn't have been as strong without the change in perspective that the pandemic gave us all.
In fact, the team received over one hundred submissions from all over the world, from the likes of Japan, Argentina, Poland, the UK, Georgia and many other countries - more than could be used in the finished piece.
"I certainly think the response we've had from the public and the initial artists, was down to the pandemic. No one was able to physically interact with art as we normally would do, so I think people were actively searching for something different to interact with."" Says Chris.
When asked what the future held for the project, Chris says, "Well I certainly think the idea of a full virtual reality experience could be something we might explore."
He continues, "from the beginning though, we were keen to make sure that anyone could enjoy the experience, no matter what technology they had to hand, whether that was a laptop, phone or tablet. We wanted to make sure it was inclusive, so as many people could use it as possible, without necessarily needing to know about the tech behind it."
22/04/2021: Aeolus Online has Launched!
On Earth Day 2021, Hogarth Productions are delighted to announce the official reveal of Aeolus Online, a virtual sound sculpture by Mike Blow. The artwork, supported by Arts Council England, has been created by Mike with the help of Chris Hunt of Controlled Frenzy, using state of the art 3D rendering technology RealityCapture.
The online work presents an old index-card cabinet found abandoned in a dusty attic. Visitors can navigate the cabinet, and open each of the drawers to hear sounds of the wind captured by artists from all over the world, from Japan to Iceland.
Each of the twelve drawers has been assigned an individual wind recording, and along with hearing the noise upon opening the drawer, visitors can also read information on who captured the recording and where in the world they were able to do so. It’s also possible to open multiple draws simultaneously to mix and match the sounds allocated to each draw and create unique compositions. Visitors can easily share their creations with friends and even upload their own recordings to the project.
About the Artist
Dr Mike Blow is an artist, musician, programmer, an electronic engineer and the Professor of Interdisciplinary Arts at the < a href="https://www.icla.ygu.ac.jp/en/" target="_blank">International College of Liberal Arts, Yamanashi Gakuin University, Japan. Here Mike is able to impart his knowledge of music, art and technology at the intersection where all three of these disciplines meet.
Mike has been running his own art practice for many years and is fanatical about pushing his art towards new audiences, particularly so when he’s installing large-scale sound projects in public spaces. His work has appeared in a range of renowned UK venues such as the Tate Modern, South Bank Centre, Cheltenham Jazz Festival and the London Science Museum. The art pieces Mike creates and presents are often interactive and influenced by the weather – the original Aeolus’ Cabinet is a prime example of this in action.
The Inspiration
Aeolus Online is based on a real-world sound sculpture called Aeolus’ Cabinet, created by Mike in 2013. The idea for the original work came while he was working on a project with Oxford Contemporary Music to bring together artists that could create outdoor works powered by the wind.
“That evening, I was thinking about the different pieces in the show and whether it was possible to make an indoor gallery work about wind,” says Mike. “Then I thought of a collector – one who didn’t collect rocks or butterflies, but winds from around the world. The idea of a cabinet with drawers containing the sound of winds appeared out of nowhere, and more or less complete. The piece I ended up building was almost identical to the original idea I had that evening.”
At the start of 2020, as the pandemic began to limit the opportunities for Mike to showcase his original work, he approached Hogarth Productions and was granted Arts Council England funding to take his vision online. As Edmund Harcourt, director of Hogarth Productions explains, “this development gave us the opportunity to really increase the scope and ambition of the project. We were able to reach out to artists and collaborators across the globe to ask for real life recordings of wind to include in the project”.
Expectations for the Project
The online project can be used in numerous ways, such as:
• In educational settings.
• In art exhibits.
• As a compositional tool.
• As a relaxation method or sensory device.
• As a demonstration of state-of-the-art rendering technology.
Of course, the biggest benefit of taking this piece into a virtual world is that it can reach a larger and more diverse audience than the original object. We are hoping the project will grow over time as more recordings are sent in by visitors to the site.
Mike says: “For this project, we had wind recordings submitted from all over the world, some with names, some without, some fierce and some playful, some blowing though trees and some resonating in pipes or old stone huts. The sheer variety of sounds is wonderful, and I hope that especially in challenging times they bring us a sense of togetherness. No matter where in the world it is from, the wind is familiar to all of us, and speaks of distant origins and destinations, of the past and of the future.”
Click here to experience Aeolus Online for yourself:
