credits elliotwoods mimison

Overview

Original article

http://www.creativeapplications.net/openframeworks/assembly-by-kimchi-and-chips-5500-physical-pixels-illuminated-by-digital-light/

A hemisphere of 5,500 white blocks occupies the air, each hanging from above in a pattern which repeats in order and disorder. Pixels play over the physical blocks as an emulsion of digital light within the physical space, producing a habitat for digital forms to exist in our world.

A group of external projectors penetrate the volume of cubes with pixel-rays, until every single one of the cubes becomes coated with pixels. By scanning with structured light, each pixel receives a set of known information, such as its absolute 3d position within the volume, and the identity of the block that it lives on.

The spectator is invited to study a boundary line between the digital and natural worlds, to see the limitations of how the 2 spaces co-exist. The aesthetic engine spans these digital and physical realms. Volumetric imagery is generated digitally as a cloud of discontinuous surfaces, which are then applied through the video projectors onto the polymer blocks. By rendering figurations of imaginary digital forms into the limiting error-driven physical system, the system acts as an agency of abstraction by redefining and grading the intentions of imaginary forms through its own vocabulary.

The flow of light in the installation creates visual mass. The spectator's balance is shifted by this visceral movement causing a kinaesthetic reaction. For digital to exist in the real world, it must suffer its rules, and gain its possibilities. The sparse physical nature of the installation allows for the digital form to create a continuous manifold within the space across the discreet blocks, whilst also passing through each block as a continuous pocket of physical space.

The polymer blocks are engineered for both diffusive/translucent properties and to have a reflective/projectable response to the pixel-rays. This way a black can act as a site for illumination or for imagery.

The incomplete form of the hemisphere becomes extinct at its base, but extends through a reflection below, and therein becomes complete. It takes inspiration from nature, whilst becoming an artefact of technology.

Credits

Kimchi and Chips

• Mimi Son
• Elliot Woods

Production staff

• Minjae Kim
• Minjae Park

Mathematicians

• Daniel Tang
• Chris Coleman-Smith

Videography

• MONOCROMhttp://monocrom.co.kr/
• Mimi Son
• Elliot Woods
• Music by Johnny Ripperhttp://soundcloud.com/johnny_ripper

Manufacturing

• Star Acrylic, Seoul
• Dongik Profile, Bucheon