Aurora — Digital Nativ

Aurora

Combining custom sensory and interactive technologies with water in its different states, Aurora invited audiences to explore a living and responsive environment. Water and human presence powered, shifted and evolved the installation each day it was live. Using water as its core material, Aurora attempted to challenge and mend our relationship with water as a human utility, asking audiences to reimagine it as the most precious element on earth; sublime, living and vital to all life as we know it.

Commissioned by British Council

Collaborator Invisible Flock

Project type Prototyping, Electronics

Duration 1 Year

Date June 2020

Toxteth Reservoir

Made for the iconic Toxteth Reservoir in Liverpool, built in 1845 to hold and supply 2 million gallons of water to the people of Liverpool.

Previs development

Digital Nativ’s role was in the development of several subsystems necessary to run the show. This included modifying a set of electric winches and creating a previsualization platform.

This "previsualization" (previs) process ensures that before any physical work begins, there is a clear, visual, and technically feasible plan for how "Aurora" will come to life, interact with participants, and transform over the duration of the exhibition.

Winch alteration

A total of 40 winches were upgraded to lift a mass of 12 kilograms, six times their original maximum capacity of 2 kilograms. This enhancement necessitated a complete mechanical redesign to manage the augmented load effectively.