|
Decomposition Object
This work started off as mycelial blocks of Pleurotus ostreatus, from which I had harvested the fruiting bodies. These dry (therefore ‘dead’) mycelial blocks are rather wonderful composites to shape into 3D forms around tunnels which hold interactive electronic components. In this piece I decided to embed strips of addressable (programmable) LEDs. The microcontroller was coded with RANDOM functions so that I could decenter my human coding involvement as much as was practically possible. These conditional functions in C++ (seen here) randomize the hue, the duration and the brightness. Even though the mycelium used is apparently dead, it seems to still have a hidden life and the potential to renew itself even while seeming to decompose. |
C++ code
void loop() { pirState = digitalRead(PIR_PIN); if (pirState == HIGH) { unsigned long currentMillis = millis(); if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= random(100, 1001)) { previousMillis = currentMillis; ledIndex = random(LED_COUNT); int hue = random(0, 70); if (hue >= 60 && hue <= 190) { hue = 181; } leds[ledIndex] = CHSV(hue, random(0, 255), random(0, 255)); FastLED.show(); } } else { FastLED.clear(); FastLED.show(); } } |
|
Please watch the video after opening it in YouTube. Use the Full Screen mode. |
|
|
Please watch the video after opening it in YouTube and use the Full Screen mode.
|
Heartbeat
I set up this piece on recovery from a stent I had put into my heart after a post-Covid micro-clot incident. It initially consisted of a 3D wire cage in a box which was covered with red stained non-woven roving. The electronic component was an Arduino Nano microcontroller (MC) on which I coded addressable LEDs with a double red pulse which was only activated when a viewer approached the work (triggered by a Passive InfraRed sensor - a PIR). I then gave the piece to a colleague (Anthea Martin), to work on and she develop the red surface using thread, fabric and perforations. We then shaped the cage into an approximation of a now rehabilitated heart which can hang freely against a wall and is still able to interact with people! |
|
Lithos
This piece started off as discarded collaged landscape paintings by Anthea Martin. I then took them, ripped them up in a random way, and sewed them together (again randomly) to create a 3D form which hung from the ceiling. We threaded coloured telephone wire into the form and - after due consideration - imagined that it was a stone… a Lithos. The surface was too opaque to allow LEDs to show, so I opted for an audio possibility. I imagined the stone breathing when people interacted with it (PIR triggered), so I coded the MC and a DFPlayer Mini with these sounds. |
Please watch the video after opening it in YouTube and use the Full Screen mode.
|