Tenacity Art
Digital that Empowers.
Steel that Heals,
Installation
FALLING STAR
FOREST
GLOW-IN-THE-DARK STARS
OPTICAL BOARD
BROKEN
CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
CELESTIAL SNOWSCAPE
Description:
The maple boxes featured above were hand-carved, featuring hand-carved F-holes. Each box played an individual member's part in an orchestra. Hence, if one sat in the last seat of the cello section, one would hear that member play. This way the participant could hear and experience what it is like to be a member of a chamber orchestra.
Optical Board, a three-foot by 5-foot board was centered on the back wall. A large-format plotter paper covered the board. The plotter paper had black dots printed on a white background and no images. Protruding a few inches from the surface in the center of the board, another print with the same black dot and white background pattern was spinning slowly. The protruding center was backlit and attached to a spinning electric motor. On the opposite wall was a ceiling-mounted projector. The projector displayed around ten shades of neon color fields that overlapped the board and projected one color at a time. I used this combination because it produced visual vibrations against the black and white background, giving the viewer the optical illusion of falling into and being pushed out of space.
To create the stars, I programmed my computer to create visuals of mathematical equations - here calculus equations. Instead of using a graph – the typical format for presenting calculus data, I used a computer programming software called Processing. The graphic representation of a calculus equation produced shapes like concave and convex curves. By experimenting with different variations of mathematical equations, I happened upon an equation with a visual representation that looked like an abstracted star design. I projected the computer-generated image onto the Masonite board and painted the shape using phosphorescent Montana-brand graffiti spray paint. The phosphorescent paint absorbs photons. Over time phosphorescent paint loses its ability to glow but is easily re-charged with light in only a few minutes.
In this installation, the participant wears refractive glasses. The plastic lenses in the glasses bend and break light rays into prisms of color. The glasses were used to gaze at LED rope lights that were strung from the ceiling with a clear fishing line giving the effect that the lights were floating. Additionally, three electrical motors gently shook the strands, causing the lights to shimmer like stars. The experience of wearing the refractive optical glasses was like walking in a thick forest surrounded by trees and twinkling lights. Hence, it was entitled Forest.
This installation was created by cutting these computer-generated star designs into the middle section of a 6-foot by 3-foot section of drywall. Then the drywall was used to close off one corner of the room, making a small triangular void behind the drywall. The void was lined with programmable LED lights. The LED lights were in the form of a fifty-foot strand and could be programmed to shift all colors of the neon spectrum. The star designs reminded one of watching a star pirouette toward the earth, like a shooting star.
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Situated near the entrance of the black room, a projector is positioned on the floor against a wall. The projector's lens is focused on several 1-inch and 3-inch cubes created from mirrors. The projector displayed black and white lines similar to barcodes. The black and white lines are actually filmed barcodes. The filmed barcodes were further manipulated and abstracted in Final Cut 10. This process was an experiment with breaking computer-generated perfection. It was also a metaphor for my psychological trauma. Sufficiently abstracted, the barcode projections seemed to be only white shards made of light.
Description:
Celestial Snowscape created an installation where plaster glaciers were covering the floor. When participants walked on the floor, it sounded like ice cracking. The sound activated a projected, digital snowstorm of green and violet snowflakes. The snowflakes would increase in intensity and volume as the noise increased.