Setup
The work consist out of 5 repurposed TL fixtures of approximately 1.4m high (1.7m including the stand). The fixtures are of industrial grade and are German made. They’re found in a local second hand hardware store.
The TL fixtures keep their visual appearance but they’re modified on the inside to fit a new function.
New functions
The new function of the fixtures can be described as: a wireless controllable light-instrument, capable of dynamically changing it’s light emission on pixel basis.
To suit this new function custom electronics have been developed by the artist.
A custom motherboard and custom ledstrip have been designed and developed.
The original electronics are removed and disposed of properly.
Art Installation
The objects are monolithic in their appearance and of human height. By using a familiar object there’s a contextual starting point.
The fixtures communicate with our senses via light (as expected from a light fixture). The installation also consists out of a speaker system. Making it all together an audiovisual art installation.
The complete set of light-objects can be seen as a disintegrated screen, consisting of spaced columns of pixels (imagine you put multiple vertical pieces of black duct tape on most part of the screen you’re reading this on).
Due to the vertical viewing space it reminds of a slit used in light experiments (and quantum mechanics).
Conceptually it also plays with the resemblance of a slit screen. The lights are forming one image the viewer can distill (imagining the output back to the input). So the viewer can imagine more information than there’s presented via the beams. Sort of Reading between the lines.
When working with digital media it is often a challenge to get away from the computer and screen (perhaps the most used interface method of a computer). Partly for this reason this installation is created, as a new interface between human perception and digital data. The data can be seen as a composition (as it is composed), resulting in both sound and light.
The driving data is mostly based on math and numeric transformations, a fundamental concept of music.
The installation shows multiple states that explore both the capabilities of the system as the perception of the viewer.
Composition and appearance
The sound moves between soundscape and music, mostly having an electronic sound (noise, clicks, percussion, synthesizers, samples of machinery, etc).
These sounds are initiated by a live system, that generates a score on the fly.
The events from this score are mostly apparent in both sound and light simultaneously.
The output isn’t always rhythmic or repeating, it can also be random or chaotic.
Process
A main driver for this artwork is the artistic and technical exploration.
The goal is always to design new interfaces that are customizable, scalable and modular.
The wireless control isn’t a necessity for this work, but by creating it this way it can be used in a later stadium or version (outdoors with battery-packs for example). Or the wireless system can be used to capture data emitted by smartphones to drive the systems activity.
The artistic exploration happens after the development of the hardware and software. What shapes can be created with this new canvas? How does it feel when we shift time synchronization of the light and sound? Or what happens when we link frequency with brightness in a non-linear manner? Questions to figure out and to play with.
