Holding Patterns was a networked installation for Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Holding Patterns addressed environmental problems suffered by wetlands and migratory birds as a result of population growth and economic expansion. This project was a portrait of the conflicting rituals of humans and nature; the annual migratory patterns of birds that frequent the wetlands and the daily migratory patterns of the human commute. This was illustrated via 5 networked, kinetic chandeliers/bulbs reflecting the daily flow of commuter traffic via the 5 major modes of transportation in and out of San Francisco city limits: airplanes (SFO), sub-terrainian trains (BART), highways (Caltrans), above ground trains (CalTrain), and ferries. Each bulb housed a robotic bird. Coordinated behaviors networked through micorprocessors controlled the movement and glow, and sound of each pod and bird in relation to the live data gathered from the respective mode of transportation. At high times of traffic, all bulbs would retreat to the ceiling of the gallery, darken and sound would reflect this condition. At low points of traffic, the bulbs would lower towards the ground, expand allowing the birds to fly and sound would reflect this condition.
