Die Wabe (German for „the comb“) is an analog (or even digital) interactive sculpture (installation?) especially created for the landing of the C74 in November 2015.
Die Wabe consists of 6 cubes. Some of them are different in color. Two particular cubes could be connected together. Once the correct two cubes are connected the newly attached cube lights up.
Die Wabe could be solved by one or more persons. The signs make it possible to quickly understand how to connect the cubes. The base cube is mounted to the base plate and can’t be lifted.
Two cubes are transparent. One of them shows plastic parts (Fischer Technik) the other Styrofoam. Three cubes are yellow. Two of the yellow cubes have a transparent window, showing plastic waste and yarn. The last cube is transparent red and comes with an Arduino and LCD-screen within it. As soon this cube is attached the LCD lights up and shows a message. The message was part of the gamification gameplay of the C74 landing.
Some of the cubes are filled with materials which humans created and use during their live. Most of them are not decomposable. So there might be a chance if a space ship comes back after years of light speed travel that its crew finds those plastic parts within the time capsules.
While playing with the sculpture the player sees and recognizes those materials. Within the C74 space ship landing context, we arrived on a dead planet, the players could ask themselves whether or not the shown materials are from a long gone civilization. The viewer / player could ask whether or not humanity has left these materials explicitly to send a message. So, what does the yarn mean?
