Amsterdam Light Festival 2018:Charging-Pillars

The Concept

Light is a form of electro-magnetic radiation, one of the fundamental forces of nature.

In Quantum-field-theory, an empty space without particles will bubble and fizz, allowing particles to pop in and out of existence, interacting and disturbing the fields of any particles, giving rise to the uncertainty in measurement. The message is the light being added by the environment of the structure, while the medium is the propagating, reflecting, interacting and absorbing the message. there is no vacuum, the medium will bubble and fizz with uncertainty.

At a fundamental (quatum) level, light is both particle and wave. This work takes light from visitors phones or other small lights and uses that as input for a artistic simulation of how light bounces around.

The Theme

The work contemplate the properties of light.

The visitor Experience

Visitors see a number pillars that 'capture' light and overhead a large collection of lights that provide the simulation. While the visitor illuminates the sensor a display light will grow brighter and slowly change color. The visitor can release the collected light by turning off the light source or the light be be released on its own when 'full'. Overhead, the light will bounce as waves.

The Technical Principle

The main construction consists of empty water bottles fitted out with RGB leds. This provides a grid that can be used as display.

Between this grid and the ground are a number of pillars. Each pillar has a light sensor that can be used to visitors to provide the trigger, and small LED grid that provides the visitor with feedback and an RGB LED strip that connects the light from the small LED grid to the main grid.