H E R D
created by Kate Spacek and eve Warnock
HERD bridges artistic conceptual development with science-based research and experimental co-creation to explore the correlations between and impacts of herding behaviors in humans and animals. To discover the many facets of herding behavior, on micro- and macro-levels, HERD combines science, engineering, economics, psychology, sociology, networking, and urban planning with movement, sound, performance, costume, and digital media. HERD activates through workshops, gallery exhibitions, speaking engagements, urban games, public installations, and performances. The animal in each of us is revitalized, revealing the powers of the collective herd to further social innovation – in our physical and virtual worlds.
A herd is defined as a group of animals that migrate together or are kept together as livestock. The herd exemplifies collective behavior; it moves as a unit. Individual members work together in unison, transferring information amongst the group to synchronize movements.
Human herds are global. Strength, freedom, and community are potential benefits of the herd, but entrapment, forced movement, and even death can result with seemingly minor shifts. Stampedes, protests, traffic, gentrification, immigration, and militias are examples. Herding goes beyond the physical as evidenced in economic shifts, cultural trends, data sourcing, and virtual societies.
Today, people are lost in the bevy of distractions. Innate animal instincts are buried as humans mindlessly act as part of their respective herds. Collective thought no longer serves the collective well-being. As humans prophesize about apocalyptic ends (e.g., global warming, nuclear war), instinctive survival mechanisms and collective awareness stagnate. HERD seeks to attune the animal in each of us, excavating the inherent benefits of conscious collective thought, in both physical and virtual worlds.
Emergence
April 2014-July 2014
They emerged from the ocean. Slowly but surely they crawled, changing before our eyes. Transformed by the air, the sand, the rhythm of the wind. What were these beasts of the sea? How did they come here and for what purpose?
In a fantastical multi-media performance, HERD: Emergence brings the consequences of a polluted ocean to life with the emergence of an evolved self-organized species from our oceans. Using researched-based algorithms to inform movement, these species will evolve and transform in front of the audience. Compelling costumes, set, and sounds will allow these organisms to dwell, feed, and reproduce among us.
HERD: Ways/ Walls + Windows
July 2014-present
HERD: Ways/ walls + windows is an interactive experience rooted in the physical and psychological qualities of herding behaviors – in both animals and humans. Through research of animal corralling systems and urban design, we developed a set of modular, mobile walls that captivate audiences with their aesthetic beauty and provoke questions of control & hierarchy, isolation, collective thought & behavior, and the powers of personal space within the group. This edgy, risky, and sometimes hilarious take on art + science evokes equal parts thoughtful curiosity and wide-eyed surprise.