*** YET ANOTHER ROOT DIRECTORY (YARD) ***

IMPROVISED CHIMERAS

ENVIRONMENTAL INPUT

LOADING DATA...
LOCATION 30.2672, -97.7431
PV VOLTAGE 0.00 V
PV CURRENT 0.00 A
LAST DATA UPDATE UNKNOWN

Images are rendered when new data arrives or when a control is changed.

SOLAR-ASSISTED STATIC ENVIRONMENTAL IMAGE PROCESSOR

FIELD NOTES GALLERY

YARD (Yet Another Root Directory) is a solar-powered web server rooted in a backyard in Austin, Texas. It exists as both artwork and infrastructure, hosting work from the place where it physically and responding to changing local conditions.

The server gathers live battery voltage from its solar charge controller while temperature, light, and wind conditions are retrieved from Open-Meteo. State-level values are speculative. As conditions change, the images are continually translated into limited-color bitmaps (every 30 seconds), making visible the changing relationship between computation, weather, and available energy.

This YARD hosts artwork and research by Kristin Lucas, developed for the MARes in Hybrid Arts at the Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Ionian University, Corfu, Greece.

PROJECT 01

RELATIONAL SWIMMING

MEDIA/01.JPG BITMAP OUTPUT
An image of the artist swimming underwater is an act of speculative evolution. Rendered as a limited-color bitmap. Wind reassembles the image blocks like water.

Solar wattage controls image block size. Battery voltage controls the number of colors. Temperature shifts the palette. 

PV WATTAGE  = PIXEL SIZE
BATTERY     = COLOR COUNT
TEMPERATURE = COLOR SHIFT
WIND        = DISPLACEMENT
PROJECT 02

THIS FREQUENCY

MEDIA/02.JPG BITMAP OUTPUT
A still image from the yard rendered in staggered, wind-displaced rows.

Wind shifts alternating rows. Light controls brightness. Lower battery voltage reduces the palette. 

WIND SPEED     = ROW OFFSET
WIND DIRECTION = OFFSET ANGLE
LIGHT          = BRIGHTNESS
BATTERY        = COLOR COUNT
PROJECT 03

MORE-THAN-HUMAN ASSEMBLAGES

MEDIA/03.JPG BITMAP OUTPUT
A court-hearing photograph fragmented into displaced and missing blocks.

State-level data controls missing blocks (unknown data). Solar generation determines image block size, and battery voltage determines color availability. 

STATE DATA  = MISSING BLOCKS
PV WATTAGE  = PIXEL SIZE
BATTERY     = COLOR COUNT
TEMPERATURE = COLOR SHIFT