THE DRIVER'S SAFETY COMPANION

Concept for an artwork along either the A7 or the N31 highway near the town of Drachten (1997).

Brief

Drachten (Smallingerland) profiles itself "as an ecologically conscious town with a headstrong and experimental approach in many areas of its policy including the visual arts. In Drachten public art is not seen merely as a decorative element in public space, but as a fundamental part of the identity of the community."

Drachten wishes to situate artworks along the highways which pass the town on two sides, the A7 (Groningen-Heerenveen) and the N31 (Drachten- Leeuwarden). "Both highways lead the automobilist by (rather than through) the town, whereby the identity of Drachten is lost behind sound barriers and the commercial and industrial parks. The town remains on the map, but threatens to be visually forgotten." The artwork(s) should remind the automobilist of the 'hidden town.'

The commissioners require that the artwork lies in "direct relation to the character of Drachten" and define character "in the most broad sense of the word: historic, social, economic, and ecological." The artwork(s) should, in one way or another, represent this character.

The commissioners also require that the maintenance of the artwork be included in the budget and conceptual plan of the artists.

Proposal: Drive-by-Drachten

You're driving home, alone in the car. It's late at night. There are not many people on the road. Familiar signs (you know the route, you drive it often) inform you that you've reached the outskirts of Drachten.

A small light descends on your right. You smile to yourself. For the next kilometer the light accompanies your car down the road, blinking slowly and gently undulating up and down. At a given moment the light waves goodbye and takes off vertically.

You see this light every time that you pass this way. It always manages to cheer you. You know it's crazy but it feels like a friend. A companion.

The Intention of the Work is Two-fold:

1. The highway user learns to identify Drachten with a 'friendly' animated light that seems to meet the passerby and accompany them along a short stretch of highway. The Companion can be seen as the modern equivalent of the town representative which met passing travellers during the Middle Ages. Today's Companion may be less biological but is not less human. The Companion is meant to be perceived as a 'gift' and designed to evoke a special sort of experience. Subtle changes in the shape and form of the animation ensure the effect of this 'close encounter' keeps being warm and wondrous, even after years of viewing.

2. The 'Companion' functions as highway safety device. Software calculates the optimum vehicle speed given the current traffic and weather conditions. If the vehicle speeds up or slows down outside of the 'safety' envelop the 'Companion' disappears. The potential importance of this aspect of the work should not be underestimated. Research and development with the National Traffic Safety Center, various universities and the Highway Department should result in an internationally recognized state-of-the art example of smart highway technology.

Realisation Notes

The light is created by a band of LED's that are attached to 50 centimeter high guard rail embedded in the existant sound barrier. This extra guard rail runs along the highway for about a kilometer.

Off-the-Shelf 'Smart highway' sensors in the guard rail detect vehicles in the right hand lane of traffic (the slow lane) and match each vehicle with its own animation. (For more on the 'Smart Highway' see Manuel De Landa's Embedded Intelligence and And Processes of Self-Organization: The case of Intelligent Vehicle/Highway Systems.)

The shape and color of each animation is generated by software running on a local dedicated computer.

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Page created: 29/5/01
Last modified: 29/5/01