Folding Field
Performative Wearable Installation | 2025

Folding Field is an experimental wearable system that investigates how movement, energy, and materiality shape perceptual experience through responsive light and sound. Developed during the FUNKEN × MAIN Residency at the MAIN Research Center (TU Chemnitz) in collaboration with scientists, the project draws inspiration from the layered nanomembranes and origami structures of Smartlets research and is informed by a systemic, feedback-oriented artistic practice in the lineage of Nikolas Schöfer.

The wearable is constructed in an improvised, experimental manner, mirroring laboratory research practices. Translucent fabrics are layered like nanomembranes, forming dynamic structures in which embedded LEDs react to the soundscape, creating a shifting visual field. The soundscape is derived from electromagnetic field recordings captured in MAIN’s laboratories, translating scientific data into spatial sound that interacts with body and environment.

In performance, Folding Field functions as a living interface: body, light, sound, and space exist in continuous feedback. Rather than presenting a fixed form, the work foregrounds emergent systems—motion, signal, and embodied interaction co-produce audiovisual structures that evolve unpredictably. The piece positions the body as an active agent within layered material and sensory systems, exploring how perception of space, movement, and energy is shaped by feedback and emergent behavior.

Year: 2025
Medium: Performative wearable installation; responsive light, sound, and movement
Duration: Variable (performance-based)
Dimensions: Wearable / Performative

Photos: Fabian Thueroff