Performance with 64 helium balloons

Craft & Design Music
Performance with 64 helium balloons

atom-cp-11.jpg

Robert henke & Christopher Bauder made this installation/performance piece called Atom:

A room is filled with deep, evolving noises from a four-channel sound system. An eight-by-eight array of white, self-illuminated spheres floats in space like the atoms of a complex molecule.

Through variable positioning and illumination of each atom, a dynamic display sculpture comes into being, composed of physical objects, patterns of light, and synchronous rhythmic and textural sonic events. Change, sound, and movement converge into a larger form.

The height of each helium balloon is adjusted with a computer-controlled cable winch, whilst the internal illumination is accomplished using dimmable super-bright LEDs, creating a pixel in a warped 8×8 spatial matrix.

The sonic events, the patterns of light, and the movement of the balloons are manipulated in real time as a 45-60 minute-long performance.

(Thanks, Tom!)

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Becky Stern is a Content Creator at Autodesk/Instructables, and part time faculty at New York’s School of Visual Arts Products of Design grad program. Making and sharing are her two biggest passions, and she's created hundreds of free online DIY tutorials and videos, mostly about technology and its intersection with crafts. Find her @bekathwia on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram.

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