traveling the field

maps of the world

as experienced by a machine.
tracing the presence

of iron in the ground.

Traveling back and forth along the magnetic field lines below it, the drawing robot resembles a sailor, going on a voyage and seeking to return to its starting point by the help of a compass.
A pen trace documents its movements, resulting in maps of the world as experienced by the machine.
I have started producing these maps in places with a history of transportation, and plan to extend the collection to other industrial sites connected to the historic use of iron and electricity.

Mapping the magnetic field of a patch of Tempelhofer Feld, close to an abandoned radio navigation beacon.

In the absence of significant ferromagnetic objects in the ground, the trajectories appear as straight lines to the human observer, spread out by slowly accumulating drift due to the electronic noise and mechanical imprecisions in the robot.
In an abandoned train repair facility, the field lines are greatly distorted by the tracks and scrap metal pieces in the ground

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