CURRENTS
SYSTEMS
Currents.systems is an immersive extended reality performance that turns atmospheric data into a living, responsive environment. Your breath, the air around you, and distant measurement systems are translated into virtual environments. A sensory record of climate in real time.
currents.systems is not a single event, but an ongoing volumetric architecture.
It is a modular XR framework and app in which 3D objects, data sources, sound environments and spatial logics can be re-curated, exchanged and adapted to new sites.
Each edition of Currents.systems builds on the same underlying architecture, while allowing artworks, sensors and environmental inputs to shift from location to location. The system is currently in its third volume, continuously evolving through new data integrations, spatial arrangements and collaborative technical development.
@Aargauer Kunsthaus
29.11.2025 – 18.01.2026
LIVE – Experience
An outdoor sensor on Aargauerplatz measures fine dust and wind in real time, while an indoor CO₂ sensor tracks the air within the exhibition. These values feed directly into the currents.systems XR engine, producing a living digital ecosystem where atmospheric changes appear as virtual plankton. Visitors navigate and influence the environment through movement and breath, revealing the hidden climates inside and around the Aargauer Kunsthaus.
Plankton
My first immersive experience was swimming in bioluminescent water, surrounded by plankton glowing with every movement.
Plankton are responsible for roughly half of the oxygen produced on Earth and play a major role in absorbing CO₂ in our oceans.
In Currents.systems Vol.III, they return as simple, responsive forms a reminder of how small organisms quietly stabilise our atmosphere every day.
„A stream of air, a body of data. Where atmosphere becomes a living memory“.
Air Quality Index (AQI)
The virtual plankton are coloured by the AQI colour index. The European Air Quality Index (EAQI) is the European Environment Agency’s tool for communicating outdoor air quality and its impacts on health. The EAQI uses five colour-coded categories, each reflecting a different level of air pollution.
SHOP
Outdoor Sensor
Collects real-time particulate matter, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction to reflect the changing atmosphere outside.
Indoor Sensor
Measures indoor CO₂ levels in real time
Nosering
A collectable print that includes a one-day data history measured during the performance, a tangible memory of the atmospheric experienced in currents.systems.
PERFORMANCE ARCHIVE
The Performance Archive documents the three evolving volumes of CURRENTS, tracing how each edition responds to different sites, data sources and environmental conditions.
2025/2026
Vol.III — Auswahl25, Switzerland
Kunsthaus Aargau — on-site sensor inside and outside.
2025
Vol. II — Festival Regenerate, Colombia
Bogotá / Manizales — AQI data + on-site CO₂ sensor with breath interaction.
2024
Vol. I — Spatial Affairs Residency
Basel (CH), Bangladesh (IN), Donostia (ES) — real-time AQI from open-source data.
ABOUT
CURRENTS has developed across multiple contexts — from early prototypes during the Spatial Affairs Residency (Vol. 1), to festival presentations in Colombia (Vol. 2), and now as an extended installation at Kunsthaus Aargau (Vol. 3). Across these iterations, the work has grown as both an artistic practice and a digital infrastructure: a long-term investigation into how atmospheric data can be experienced sensorially.
The project is created and directed by Géraldine Honauer, in collaboration with an international network of developers, designers and institutions. Full credits and partners are listed below.
CREDITS
Software Vol. III: currents.systems
Art Direction & Systemarchitektur: Géraldine Honauer | Software Engineer: Leonard Gable | Software Developer (Unity): Jakub Mirovský, VRPunk | 3D-Design: Robbie Mueller, Daniel Boubet | Sound Design: Sound Effects BBC, AI-Sound | Sensordesign: Decentlab | Sensorintegration: Akenza | 3D printing and technical consultancy: Ivan Hörler | Website support: Vidya Kelie
XR operations and technical support for the opening event at Kunsthaus Aargau: Alexey Chinarov / vrent.ch
Software Vol. II: currents.systems
Software Developer (Unity): Florian Weinrich | 3D-Design: Daniel Boubet
Software Vol. I: currents.systems
Partners (Spatial Affairs): iart (Basel), TEKNIKER (Spain) and metaLAB (at) Basel | Software Developer (Unity): Florian Weinrich | 3D-Design: Daniel Boubet | Cultural Partners: Tabakalera (San Sebastián), HEK (House of Electronic Arts), MAP (Museum of Art & Photography, Bangalore).
Fundings: Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia (as part of the Spatial Affairs program), Aargauer Kuratorium (Freiraum).
CURRENTS continues to grow as a modular, site-responsive project, and is open to new collaborations, presentations, and institutional partnerships.
Let’s turn air into visible action!
contact(at)currents.systems