Final Installation - The All Seeing Eye

Concept

I want to create an altar that forces the viewers to interact with it on multiple sides. I was originally going to address the center pillar of the raw space by having a platform that had an RF receiver embedded into it that was hung from the pillar. Around the pillar would have been 3D printed icons that would be able to be placed on the platform and then activating video. I was then motivated by addition of the "Bring Your Own Beamer" 1 credit course and wanted to create something that would tie over into a usable installation for that class. I still wanted to address the same space and a very similar concept.

I would like to create a Altar celebrating light and sound. When you walk into the space you would be confronted with the main portion of the Altar, "The All Seeing Eye" It is a glowing orb that modulates in color as it detects your presence in the space. The thought is that the front will have 2 modes and can be toggled by a switch. The first will have a slit scan patch running and the eye will fade throughout the full color spectrum. The other mode will detect up to three bodies at a time and each of the three will control Red, Green or Blue values of the glowing eye. 

On the adjacent sides of the pillar will be prayer stations where you can create an audio soundscape for meditation. This will hopefully force the viewer to circumambulate around my Alter, each taking a moment to kneel and pray or interact and dance for the eye. 

Space

I used the Raw space primarily for the pillar and the space around the pillar for others to stand and watch. It is a perfect central figure and stands strong like a monolith. It also helped that the space's light can be finely tuned and can be dark enough to allow the light emitted from the eye to be the area of emphasis. The pillar went up about 12 to 15 ft hight and allowed be to place the eye higher so the video captured would be that of a surveillance camera. 

Construction

For the Eye, I used an LED RGB stage light that can be controlled by a DMX controller. To control it I used a LAN box and programmed an Isadora patch to detect blobs within the space. Each of the 3 blobs that were detected had their values connected to each channel of the RGB scale. I took 2 lamp shades and formed them into a dome to diffuse the light and make it look like an eyeball. I then used a color CCTV camera to capture the image. Beneath the eye I installed a flat panel LCD screen that would display video from either of the 2 modes. Above the monitor is a switch that I have connected to an Arduino in order to toggle between the 2 patches. At the prayer station I have an iPad that is using Bloom HD that has been set with specific parameters for the viewers to create music off of.

Installed