2012-2018
Interactive installation series
Projector, organza curtains, oscillating fan, proximity sensor, Mylar, computer, speaker
Dimensions variable
Slowly rocking window curtains against the sunlight is one of the most beautiful images I’ve ever seen.
Distant Light began with an image I have never forgotten: window curtains slowly rocking against the sunlight. The installation rebuilds that moment indoors, where the sun, the breeze, and the open window are all made by hand.
Translucent swathes of organza hang like curtains before a window that is not there. An oscillating fan keeps them swinging in a gentle, man-made breeze, and a proximity sensor reads the movement and curvature of the curtain as it swings. From this data, the computer generates a spectrum of natural hues in real time and projects it back onto the fabric, so that the curtain’s own motion determines the light that falls on it. A soft computer-generated whirr accompanies the movement. In the large, darkened room, the wall of light never stays still, and visitors are drawn to move around it, looking for what the shifting fabric reveals and hides.
distant light
