The Sympathetic Motion series comprises four large-scale soft kinetic sculptures. The series takes its name from the musical term sympathetic resonance, which refers to the harmonic phenomenon in which a passive string or vibratory body responds to external vibrations that share a harmonic likeness. Similarly, each sculpture in the series features a programmed motion that responds to real-time environmental data, such as temperature or winds forecasts. While the initial motion is data-driven, the behavior of each piece becomes increasingly unpredictable due to the interplay between mechanical components, internal structures, and the flexible fabric.

The series investigates how motion can trigger emotional and behavioral responses in viewers, and why humans tend to anthropomorphize moving forms. The design choices intentionally exploit our tendency to animate lifeless objects, offering an opportunity to engage with something non-human and non-identifiable.

The little cars Wally, Dory, Mortimer, Ferguson, and Baxter move back and forth in different combinations on the wood-curvy tracks. They report their location to the brain of the system that functions as a communication line between all of them. The brain remembers and communicates the position of each sculpture to the other that is in proximity. For instance, when Wally and Dory are the farthest from each other they might realize they miss each other and therefore go into a certain state of behavior that reflects their sadness while if they are closest to each other they might mingle. Once every so often, they move together or towards each other. The tracks never cross so the sculptures can never touch each other unless they are already tangled together, coupled, from the beginning.

When the visitors walk they first see the movement of the fabric sculptures and then realize the tracks. All of the electronics in the ceiling are somewhat hidden because the tracks are designed to blend into the architecture and become an appendage to it. The very complicated system on the ceiling is reflected by not so complicated movements at eye-level. While the tracks blend into the architecture, the vertical sculptures jump out and drool onto the floor as if they are reaching for the audience. The piece facilitates a physical relationship between the architecture and the residents in it.

As the visitors enter the installation and walk through it, they have to change their behavior in the space according to the sculptures or interrupt the system. They may choose to interrupt the system by pushing the pieces out of their way, pulling them or just holding them. This physical interruption by the audience interrupts the relationships within the system. Every time the audience chooses to hold one of the sculptures a second more than the sculpture is supposed to stay in that place, the counter in the brain that remembers and reports where the sculptures are or what they are supposed to do next gets interrupted and confused. As a result, the relationships between the objects alter.

In contrast, the audience is also interrupted by the sculptures. When placed in a cramped space where the audience has to walk through the sculpture to get to the other side, visitors that do not want to touch the pieces will have to navigate around the pieces and walk in a zigzag like a pattern or get hit by them.

My aim in this project is to investigate relationships between mechanical objects that have physical qualities within a closed system and the system’s relationship to the architecture and the audience. It is a meditation on how two very separate entities, like the visitor and the art piece, can affect each other physically but not be aware of the unseen consequences that may follow their physical interaction.

Displaced and Clusters(the next piece)are pieces that interact with both their audience and the surrounding environment. The behaviors of the sculptures change based on various inputs. Displaced achieves this through sensors installed in the space where it's located, while Clusters geolocate their position, collect air pollution data every three hours, and adjust their speed according to the air pollution levels.

The Metamorphosis focuses on how we understand our bodies and move within space and how we establish a sense of belonging with the built environment and nature through play. The series consists of four wearable pieces that are a part of an interactive installation. The shape of each garment is inspired by children’s play combined with a nature print, and the environments of the installation contain micro or macro images of nature. Visitors are invited to wear the garments and enter the installation. They are encouraged to discover which parts of the installation they blend in with and where they stand out. They get a chance to experience new ways of moving while wearing the garments. Some restrict certain movements while allowing others. The experience urges the wearer to be aware of their movements and the space they inhabit and ponder what it means to become one with nature using our garments the way we move.