For my Physical Computing final project, I will be creating an update to a piece by artist Yayoi Kusama called “Infinity Mirrored Room - Love Forever”. The piece was first created in 1966, and was remade in 1994. I saw it in August at the Whitney Museum’s “Summer of Love” Exhibit…which was a collection of from the 60’s and 70’s psychedelic movement.
The original IMR-LF is an approximately five foot tall rectangular box. In the center of the top portion of the box is a several inch wide slot that allows the viewer to peer into the interior. Inside, the viewer finds a small room, about two feet high, covered in mirrors on all sides except for the ceiling. The ceiling is studded with a pattern of multicolored lamps that flicker in succession to provide an illusion of infinite space. Two planes of the lights travel in all directions, by which the viewer is easily mesmerized. At the back of the room, the viewer sees his own eyes reflected back…as if his body has been transported to this infinite field. I love the play on perspective and illusion that a small space can contain an infinite one, and that the viewer can be visually drawn into this new world.
When I was viewing the piece and watching museum-goers experience it, I noticed that there was really no interactivity. People would queue in a line, walk up to the viewing portal, and look inside.
While contemplating my final project, I remembered this piece and how I was struck by its low tech approach. It uses small lightbulbs and some basic timers to light the bulbs. I asked myself how it could be reconstructed to be a more “21st Century” piece by using LED lighting and a microcontroller. The answer: Infinity Mirrored Room - LEDs Forever.
My intention is to build a slightly scaled-down version of IMR-LF. I will use an arduino, some IR rangefinder sensors, and Processing to drive a Color Kinetics iColor Tile. The iColor Tile is a 24″ x 24″ array of 144 RGB LED’s. The LED’s can be driven over ethernet by Processing using a UDP library written by Daniel Shiffman. I will construct a roughly 24″x24″x24″ cube without a top, over which the iColor Tile will be placed. Inside, the cube will be mirrored on all sides, like the original IMRLF, and a viewing port will be cut in one side. Using a 12″ Powerbook, the iColor Tile will project a series of patterns, which will be reflected throughout the infinite space inside. The sensors and Arduino will be used to trigger changes in the pattern…speed, direction, and probably the pattern itself. Here’s a SketchUp 3D mockup:
There are two major aspects to the project…constructing the enclosure and programming the visuals and sensor functionality. I’ve begun a few Processing apps to create interesting visual patterns, but they will need to be refined and integrated with Shiffman’s library. When I am happy with visuals and have the communication with the LED panel working, I will focus on building the enclosure.
I’m very excited to begin work on the project. I’ve never attempted anything like this before!
UPDATE: The piece was was a tremendous success at the 2007 Winter Show! I have posted some photos of the final product at Flickr.com.