Last week, with the support of g2, I had a chance to exhibit one of our light installation pieces in Ottawa for winterlude - these are the details:

URban DiffUser. Version 2.

The project utilizes 450 repurposed florescent light diffusers and 240 LED 1w lights with a sound reactive controlling system. It is deployed in Ottawa in the Marion Dewar plaza for the illumiNation portion of the winterlude festival, and is one of 7 pieces done by artists from across Canada.

Working with Urban visuals (uvilab.com), we built on a system we deployed last year from the IllumiNite competition. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/75612718@N05/sets/72157629616241403/). That piece was the first use of the system of wrapping and stacking the individual lenses, and simply used big wall washer LED lights to give it life. That piece won the 2012 illumiNITE, with the praise of “sexy” from one of the judges, city councilor Jane Batty.

This years’ piece also uses commercial light diffusers from florescent lights – in this case mostly from an old Zellers. The material picks up light extremely well, but also happens to be quite fragile. This has proved to be a challenge to work with outside in the various weather conditions. In fact, immediately prior to winterlude, the temperature went from -15°c to +14°c and back down again over the span of 3 days. Despite this, the temperature change wasn’t the problem; it was the windstorm that accompanied the shift. The piece collapsed due to high winds, and ~10% of the pieces were damaged. This necessitated a return trip to Ottawa (from Montreal). After setting it back up again, in less ambitious form, and much better anchored, the piece came alive in time for the winterlude opening the following day.

The lighting system is constructed using 2 separate arduino boards, built into separate weatherproof enclosures. These take input from a small microphone, and push data down the string of 120 1w LEDs. The LEDs are capable of a wide spectrum of color (full RGB). Louder sounds make brighter light, and a change of color, which slides down the string to the end.

Overall, the project is a success, despite the collapse. The light system works tremendously well, and it reacts to sound generated by people, music and vehicles. After its 3 week run, the piece will be disassembled and shipped back to Edmonton.
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2 teams have organized to submit pieces for the IllumiNITE festival in Edmonton on Feb 16-17. More details to follow. [ CLOSE ]

Despite the snow and cold weather, construction has been moving ahead on the Meadows Recreation Centre and Library on the northeast corner of 17th Street and 23rd Avenue in Edmonton. You can see finish elements, such as the wood ceilings, emerge as the interior spaces become protected by the expansive roofs. [ CLOSE ]