music by candlelight, '02
My friend and occasional collaborator John Roach made a nice page about this work, with good audio: here . Click on the image above for a quicktime of the work, and here for an mp4.
Materials: Electronics, metal, adapted flying pig toys, translucent textured plastic, candle, shot glass.
A sensor (TSL230) gathers data from a candle – as the candle naturally
flickers, one or two suspended sheets of plastic more in proportion to the activity
(direction of movement and intensity of movement) of the candle. The movement
of the plastic sheets causes a breeze that fans the flames, causes more movement
(and sound from the moving sheets), etc…The code (on a PIC 16f876) adapts
so that the candle will not be extinguished by the movements of the plastic
sheets. A PIR sensor at the entry point of the space containing the work toggles
the light above the work on and off – so that the room is brightly lit
until someone approaches the work – then it becomes dark, until they walk
away.