Pneuma Fountain

Pneuma Fountain is Chico MacMurtrie/Amorphic Robot Works’ most recent inflatable robotic sculpture depicting organic transformation and movement at an enlarged scale. Radiating from the center of the courtyard of the Kremsmünster Monastery in Austria, Pneuma Fountain consists of 8 translucent 4 meter tall fabric arches that spring to life and change shape as they fill with air, rising up to the sky and curving back down again. 

They evoke streams of water in slow motion as they form an ephemeral circle 16 meters in diameter, emanating from a cylinder that houses the technological brain, which uses software to interpolate and map the spatial coordinates and velocity of the sculpture’s movements. Then as the arches gradually release air, their crisp architectural forms yield to seemingly chaotic coils and other configurations that reflect their built-in kinetic “memory” and suggest another, more organic order. 

The cycles of air exchange and movement are inspired by a respect for the continual yet delicate flows of energy and matter between organisms and their environments. 

Pneuma Fountain’s continuous metamorphosis is designed to engage and transform the space around it, providing a contemplative experience of movement, air, light, and architecture.

Pneuma Fountain was commissioned by OÖ Landesgartenschau Kremsmünster in collaboration with Ars Electronica. The inauguration will take place on June 14th, 2017 and Pneuma Fountain will be on exhibition through October 15th, 2017.