Art
By traversing art, design and technology, these provocative experiential installations are driven by a shared curiosity and desire to make sense of our lives.
Artistic directors, lead programmers, and designers collaborate over months on the projects, from an initial concept to the final physical realisation.
Carried Away
Sorry, got carried away there, it's just me, putting stuff on the wall and each took me a month to design and build, but that's boring. They are all time based media, the wall space being donated by previous installations now on the bonfire and each is named by the month in which they were made.
Anyway, the Infrared environment is the art, each piece simply interprets the changes in that particular environment, a change specifically in proportion to the number of infrared photons from predefined areas around the canvas. It is great fun to watch how young and old interact with the works, most seem to adjust both the speed and way they interact with every piece.
The four canvases respond differently to how changes in their infrared environment are to be interpreted. It sounds complex but it isn't. You let the art decide what is normal, this takes a while, most settle after about 20 seconds. Then it is simply “how do I interpret a change”. Say a cloud moves across the sky, and in the case of “March” which views a reflection of the sky, colours change across the canvas in response to the movement of the cloud. It is that simple, the interpretation in the change in the infrared profile across the view is the art. “March” simply enables us to view the change. Of course we can also just jump in front and do silly stuff with our warm hands but who would do that?
Reference
Here are the reference design details of the four pieces currently in our front room. Without kids playing with them they do seem a bit boring. But hey, it's just my technical reference.
December
As you move across the canvas “December” interprets your location by creating a sweeping wave as your shadow.
Technicals. Opposite facing magnets in the ends of the dials are located by hall sensors between the dials to establish a default location. The infrared profile is simply interpreted as left or right side, and the dials rotate in both a horizontal and vertical delayed motion, which we interpret as a wave.
Best viewed from a distance, half a mile works well.
January
With a flash and a bang "January" predicts your next move. A close sweep of the canvas gives a background to the chase.
Technicals. 64 areas in front of the canvas are infrared scanned as an 8x8 matrix. As the profile changes “January” responds with a simple interpretation of your next location and a short sound.
Each disk also has a capacitive sensor triggered by a hand placed within 5mm of the surface and there are several combinations of colours and designs of disks which ”January” interprets as linked triggers. With a close sweeping action “January” creates an interpretation of links to produce a basic image on the canvas.
A very free image interpretation and lots of running and jumping are required.
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February
Spring has arrived early, and “February” wants to say hello. Initially the inner petal is green, the middle yellow and the outer edge white. But “February" senses your presence and responds to your kindness.
Technicals. Using a 60 degree cone in front of the canvas “February” analyses infrared changes which trigger the petals to blend to white. If you stay motionless “February” interprets you as part of the background. When you move again the petals blend to green. Finally returning to the original green, yellow, and white. After a minute the petals change again, an outer leaf becomes green and an inner leaf becomes blue, the 12 petals become our analogue clock. Each 5 minutes the green outer petal ticks to the next petal,, as does the inner leaf on each hour. With new infrared activity “February” reinstates the petal display.
But the standing still is the difficult bit.
March
Six colours are used by “March” to represent the infrared photons of daylight. The three primary's and their complementaries move in phase with the changing scene.
Technicals. Using the infrared profile of daylight as seen by 8 vertical slices of the photon detector "March" adjust the canvas. The colours alter with changes in the profile but the interpretation by “March” limits the total illuminated area of the canvas. Panels previously set are disabled to allow new areas to light whilst capping the overall brightness. This could better be achieved by dimming earlier panels, but it is, as is. When walking past the canvas, parts of your body interact with the daylight infrared to also change the colours of panels. If you stand stationary “March” interprets you being part of the background, and now the panels will only change if you or the sky alter. Great in real life and rubbish on camera. Even with the iris 3 stops down the colours on the video look terrible.
But like all interactive art, it comes alive when viewed in person, grand children first.
Addendum
The second prototype for the Valve.computer, the Fred.Computer was named in honour of my hero. Fred was born in 1927, the 8th member of his family living in rooms in a run down part of London. The pre-war slums of the city were tough.
He was evacuated to rural Surrey at the start of the war, but his parents could not afford the weekly 5 shilling fee and Fred had to return to the bombings in London.
Leaving school at 13 he found work in a saw mill, as the feed assistant on an incredibly dangerous swing saw. He managed to retain all of his fingers and was called up for National Service just after the war.
He rose to the rank of Warrant Officer Class 1 [Sergeant Major].
Returning to civvy street he married Ena and soon she was with child. They found furnished rooms in a small house but when her pregnancy became obvious they were forced to leave. The council put them into in a homeless hostel, the old Swaffield Road workhouse, (since renamed Brocklebank, it now even has a blue plaque!).
Being homeless was not the end for our family, it became a new start. Ena found the other residents to be extremely kind, and I acquired a brand new Pedigree pram. Fred was working long hours in the saw mill, where one day the foreman was suddenly sacked. Fred was going on an Army exercise after work and was wearing his Warrant Officer Class 1 uniform, the boss turned to him and made him the new foreman.
We were moved to a council flat and I had my own bedroom, it was incredible.
Next to the Saw Mill was a very large toy factory, Fred identified it as his future and took a pay cut to became a chargehand at the company.
Within a few years Fred had become a junior manager, then Works Manager and finally the General Manager. He was never in his office, but could always be found on the shop floor of the massive factory. It had the largest injection moulding shop in Europe and I had never seen so many toys.
Ena and Fred both worked long hours to get a mortgage and buy a house. Fred took up the post of Works Director of an Engineering firm near their new home.
He became a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. They moved to the Midlands and Fred became the Managing Director of a large Engineering company where he introduced the new DEC PDP-11 computer and still found the time to manage the build of their future home. It was a fast paced incredible career.
But what he really does is to help and guide everyone in his extended family. He makes the time to be there when needed, somehow making everything alright again. He has enabled many friends and family members achieve their aspirations and fulfil their dreams. He encourages many, has saved a few, and always gives everything.
The prototype Fred.Computer was named in honour of my amazing Dad.