This was a an outdoor sculpture that was
made at the University of Wisconsin, Madison for a light arts festival
by group from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The movie gives
you a good idea of the phenomena that the work produced - there is a remarkable
amount of visual activity.
We had only one day to create the piece,
build it, and take it back down, but it proved very popular and we had
a constant crowd in front of the work. Given the fleeting nature of the
installation, emphasis was given to the multifaceted lighting effects
and neon animation. Suspended on a frame of PVC, twenty-some tubes of
neon were sandwiched between two layers of irisedescent cellophane.
The neon was animated using a BASIC stamp
microcontroller to turn on and off the power to the transformers that
light up the tubes. There were five transformers, with one to three tubes
of neon attached to each one and spread throughout the piece. All of this
hardware was hidden inside the panel.
With the wind blowing over the surface, the film refracted and reflected the neon inside to create a magical rippling ocean of color and luminescence.
See also
A Look on the Bright Side, a more eleaborate gallery installation
in a similar vein that was inspired by this project.
