Studies On Criticality No. N-Series is planned as an installation and experiment that explores self-organized criticality as an aesthetic phenomenon primarily but not solely by ear.

The projects first iteration (No. 1) inquired this aspect of criticality defined as one of the crucial processes by which complexity arises in nature within the aesthetic framework of a minimalistic massive-multi-soundsource setting each of the soundsources acting as an audible cell of an artificial organism, namely a simple elementary cellular automata. It explores these automata not only visually, but through audification by a multi-channel speaker system. Cellular automata are interesting, since they show four stages or classifications of patterns and rhythms, which are monotonic, oscillating, random and complex. Obviously the transitions/ differences between those phases are studies on criticality of some sort.

The speakers were driven by a 5A lab power source (standing on the floor in the final installation) and controlled by an ArduinoMega and a self-made-"shield" (PCB to connect with the sockets of the arduino) with many darlington array circuits. The speakers are self-made, since funnels/sinkholes are misused as speaker cones and the small speakers have been glued into the center of the funnels. All connections are soldered by hand. The ArduinoMega is connected to an processing program via serial communication. The processing program generated the cellular automata and patterns. Some further developments, such as using bigger speakers, test out different spatial set-ups and architectures are planned for the future.