"Swarm" was commissioned by Scottsdale Public Arts for extended display at the 2019 Canal convergence, Scottsdale, AZ, USA

Responding to the events theme of water and light, it mimics the flocking behavior found in schools of fish and flights of birds. "Swarm" is something abstract, yet instantly recognisable. The flocking of a bird is something we see everyday but its motion is something we can’t necessarily appreciate. "Swarm", represents this motion in a dynamic frozen form.

Its form is derived from emulating the basic models of flocking behavior; ‘Agents’ are positioned in a virtual environment and controlled by three simple rules: Separation, alignment and cohesion. Interacting amongst both their own forces and those found in the installations, actual, physical environment.

These agents are tracked, their paths recorded, and aggregated/combined to represent the flocking behavior found in schools of fish and flights of birds. Nestled between trees on either side of the historic canal, reaching out from one side to the other, this behavior is expressed by opaque tubes during the day and by night, the LED tubes illuminate, dancing and flickering as if the swarm is alive.