What is »The Spinning Timmy«?

 

The Spinning Timmy is an interactive installation that – while using an unusual way of interaction – allows the visitor to visually experience the history of the textile industry in Bavaria since the beginning of the 20th century.

The Stories

 

Each of the five stories is projected onto a different fabric, which correspond to the content shown upon it. The story lines are split up chronologically, starting in the 1930s and finishing today. They depict the development of the textile industry in and around bavaria with the focus on the AKS, the Augsburger Kammgarn Spinnerei.

The 1930s

As war is looming closely the workers keep comitted to the company. A lot of factories are being renewed, new chimneys being built. The production is getting up to speed.

The 1950s

After the war took its toll on Europe many factories had to start rebuilding their buisness from anew. The willpower of the workers presented the strongest force fueling the reconstruction.

The 1970s

The peak of the textile industry also turned out to be its downfall. Cheap labour from overseas pressed companies to outsource their work and to purchase materials in non-european countries, slowly initiating the ruin of the German textile industry.

The 2000s

After struggling to survive in the last decades, factory workers try to preserve their workplaces one last time. However, this attempt at saving the AKS proves to be futile as hundreds of people lose their jobs in the 2002's factory closedown.

Today

Today on a small part of the former compound of the AKS Augsburg's museum of textile and industry has opened its gates for visitors from all around Germany and the world. With its interactive exhibition it presents all ages with an immersive and fascinating experience.

Hardware & Software

The installation is consists of many components that power the installation. Accomplishing a smooth communication between all of the components is was a very challenging task. Take a look at all the parts!

THE SPINNINGWHEEL

The starting point of the installation. The user can spin in his own speed while concentrating on the videos.

THE MICROCONTROLLER

The Micorcontroller receives a signal on every turn of the wheel and sends it to the pc for further processing.

THE PC

The PC receives the the Data and calculates the speed of the video based on the speed of the spinning wheel.

THE PROJECTOR

Two projectors project everything onto the five canvases.

VVVV

VVVV is used to process the signal from the microcontroller, calculate the video speed as well as distributing the five videos among the two projectors. It is a very powerfull piece of software, which manages all of the installation peaces.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Adobe Premiere Pro was used to edit the videos and render them to the corresponding format. The canvases are not in landscape but rather in portrait mode. However, the source Material is in the standard 4:3 format, which made fitting the most important imagery into this format very challenging.

Say Hi!

If you have any questions or want to say hi be sure to contact me at

Also, if you'd like to see the installation live I'd be happy to see you at

and at

With amazing support from

© Vyacheslav Gurevich 2014