Zurich HB Flap by Andreas Gysin & Sidi Vanetti

This generative-kinetic installation was the opening at exhibit at the new Museum of Digital Art (MuDA) Zurich, which began in 2016. The work recontextualizes the mechanical timetable from a Zurich train station into an art installation. This original split-flap display had been in operation since 1988 and was removed from its station in 2015 to be replaced by a digital model. It consists of 452 split-flap elements, each printed with destinations, times or information. In the installation, Gysin and Vanetti use software and algorithms to transform the text-based split-flap elements into abstract shapes, evolving into formal visual compositions with each flap like a pixel on a screen.