Light Motive
Light Motive is a robotic sculpture/installation designed and built by David Birchfield. The total work is a collection of individual robotic 'organisms' which interact with each other and the world around them. The organisms are suspended in a group from the ceiling of the exhibition space. Each organism is equiped with a colored spotlight, an array of light sensors, a number of prisms and reflective surfaces, and a microphone with speaker. Furthermore, each organism can rotate itself to face any direction and can winch itself higher or lower in the space. The organisms interact with one another by means of their light sensors. The goal of each organism is to have its neighbors shine their lights on its reflective array and thereby create as brilliant a light as possible. To achieve this, each organism uses its light sensors to detect from which direction light is most intense, and then raises or lowers itself and twists its body to position its reflectors in the detected beam of light. Each organism also has a microphone mounted on its suspension wire. As the organism repositions itself, vibrations in the string are amplified to the effect that each organism 'sings' as it moves. The pitch of the singing is dependent on the organism's position in the vertical space. Light Motive is a population of spider-like robots suspended from the ceiling, singing and twisting, rising and falling, as their searchlights probe the space. The result is an ever evolving kaleidoscope of light and sound.
 Click to view video clip Click to view photos from the Artbots Show held 5/25/2002 at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY
Click here to view pictures of the first prototype build of a Light Motive organism
|
