flux-maps-flux

“flux-maps-flux” is an art project created for the ‘science fair’ show at flux factory/nyc in june 2010. for this work, we built a hand-held, portable emf sensor to explore the electromagnetic topography of flux factory. participants were asked to walk the site with the sensor (seen at the end of this clip). the sensor emits sound and has a panel meter (**panel meter is salvage from another project…) to indicate shifting emf levels. the sensor is enclosed in glass, battery powered, and has a ferrite core antenna with a coil designed to filter the emf fields surrounding electric power sources.

participants wrote down emf readings on a small map and we created ink, and relief drawings/maps on paper from their readings. the drawings were stacked on a lightbox in the order they were created and visitors could view the hand-drawn maps by looking at them through an acrylic sphere. the sound you hear is a composition made from recordings of the audio output from the sensor.

synchronous displacement (excerpt)

synchronous displacement is an iterative process of translation from light to sound to vibration.

in this floor mounted artwork, shifting patterns of light in an array of LEDs below a diffusing medium are tracked by software. the patterns are translated into a sound composition whose components are based on recordings made while constructing and prototyping the piece. the composition is played through two small speakers, and a small, low frequency oscillator mounted below the LEDs, transposing the sound to low-frequency vibrations. vibration sensors connected to the LEDs alter the patterns of light, which alters the sound, which alters the light, etc.