Sympoietic System

Custom Software, Weather Data, Sky, Camera. Variable dimensions and duration. 2020 412 ppm
An installation shot of a Harvart Art Museum gallery with a large screen on the wall. The screen shows a picture of a painting from the museum's digital collection on a blurred background of the sky. The image is captioned with the current weather (Overcast, 45°F) and the artwork's title and artist
Overcast, 49°F - Kanji Nakamura, "Orizaba, Mexico", 19th-20th century. Photo by Newman

The project was developed for the Harvard Art Museums’ Lightbox Gallery, which is located between a glass roof above and a sweeping courtyard view below. The project's core was a camera mounted to the glass roof of the museum, pointed at the sky. Using the camera feed and weather data, a custom software continuously selected works from the museum’s digitized collections by linking color, meteorological observations, and artwork metadata. The selected works were displayed on a screen in the gallery, overlaid on the sky photo that selected them.

In a sense, the weather curated the exhibition. Sometimes the links were literal, pairing blue skies with lush landscape paintings or abstract works in shades of blue. Other times, a pairing would suggest more complex associations.

A picture of a large screen on a wall. The screen is black with a white text in the center that reads: You are looking at the sky above this building
Installation shot. Photo by Newman
A blurred photo of the sky above the museum with white text in the center. It reads: Matching a work from the collection to the weather outside.
Matching a work from the collection to the weather outside
A photo of a painting from the museum's digital collection on a blurred background of the gray, overcast sky. The image is captioned with the current weather (Overcast, 49°F) and the artwork's title and artist: "Apotheosis of Louis-Adolphe Thiers" by Jehan Georges Vibert, circa 1878
Overcast, 49°F - Jehan Georges Vibert, "Apotheosis of Louis-Adolphe Thiers", c. 1878
An installation shot of a Harvart Art Museum gallery with a large screen on the wall. The screen shows a spread from a sketchbook from the museum's digital collection on a blurred background of the sky. The image is captioned with the current weather (Overcast, 49°F) and the work's title and artist: Untitled, by Otto Piene
Overcast, 49°F – Otto Piene, "Untitled (bleed-through of previous page, left page); Untitled ("House of the Dead," right page)", 1985. Photo by Newman
An installation shot of a Harvart Art Museum gallery with a large screen on the wall. The screen shows a picture of a drawing from the museum's digital collection on a blurred background of the sky. The image is captioned with the current weather (Overcast, 45°F) and the artwork's title and artist: Untitled by William Anastasi, 2003
Overcast, 49°F - William Anastasi, "Untitled (Subway Drawing Last Car)", 2003. Photo by Newman
A picture of the sky camera used for this project, attached to the museum's glass ceiling inside a work area full of instruments used for art conservation.
Sky camera location. Photo by Jeff Steward
A photo of a small camera attached to a glass ceiling. Through the glass a skyline with a curchtower is visible. The sky is overcast in a pale, gray blue.
Sky camera. Photo by Jeff Steward
A blurred image of a blue sky with clouds
Sky camera photo

Acknowledgments

Commissioned by metaLAB at Harvard for the exhibition Curatorial A[i]gents at Harvard Art Museum.
Text in collaboration with Matthew Battles and Mike Maizels.