Bjørn Staal

Bjørn Staal is an artist and software developer based in Oslo, Norway.

His work explores the dynamic interactions between computational systems, human perception & behavior. With more than a decade of experience in multidisciplinary design and software development, Staal co-founded the experimental art and design studio Void in 2015. Focused mainly on the development of large-scale interactive installations, Void has gained international recognition for its work at the intersection of design, architecture, technology, and art.

Since leaving the studio in 2023, Bjørn has focused on his own artistic practice, exploring how algorithms can enrich our understanding of what it means to be human in an age where more and more of our agency is being outsourced. Staal’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, as part of online and physical exhibitions as well as installations in public spaces. In September 2024, Staal had his first solo exhibition at Wintercircus in Ghent, Belgium.

0554, Oslo

+47 412 32 199

@bgstaal        / Github

@_nonfigurativ_ / Instagram

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Breaking The Surface

2014

interactive, installation

Steel, Plexiglass, Servo Motors, C++ Code, PLC Code

Stavanger/Oslo

Designboom

Creative Apps

Breaking the Surface is a conceptual installation created as a collaboration between Scandinavian Design Group, Abida, Intek & Ctrl+N for the 10-year anniversary of Norwegian petroleum company Lundin Norway. The installation was first exhibited as a central component of the company's pavilion at the ONS energy convention in Stavanger and later became a permanent installation in the company's Oslo headquarters.

The installation featured an abstract representation of underground landscapes through a matrix of 529 acrylic pipes that pierced the ceiling between the first and second floors, creating organic rock-like formations below and an ocean surface effect above. Visitors were invited to interact with the installation by moving through the space underneath, where the pipes, which normally hung 1.3 meters above ground, would lift to create protective domes around each person. This inverse movement created wave-like motions on the upper floor, with both levels remaining accessible while the second floor was enclosed by glass walls for safety.

The installation comprised 529 custom-made brackets designed to control each individual pipe's motion, with each module containing a flexible stainless steel construction housing an industrial servomotor, drive wheels, and capacitive sensors.

The control system operated through three integrated layers: a sensory layer featuring a 60-square-meter capacitive sensor floor and four Kinect sensors, a top-level openFrameworks application that constructed real-time environmental models and generated motion schemes, and a PLC layer consisting of four soft-PLCs built on Beckhoff's TwinCat 3 platform.

The complete installation incorporated 529 servo motors, 3,200 support wheels, 1.2 kilometers of acrylic pipe, 1.5 kilometers of cables, 21,000 nuts and bolts, and approximately 5 tonnes of stainless steel, creating a sophisticated responsive environment that translated human movement into architectural transformation.