Homographies

Subsculpture 7

"Homographies" (Subsculpture 7) is a large-scale interactive installation featuring a turbulent light array that responds to the movement of the public using a surveillance tracking system. The installation consists of white fluorescent light tubes hung from robotic fixtures on the ceiling of the exhibition space, equally spaced. Each light tube rotates slowly using a computerized stepper motor and create labyrinthine patterns of light that make "paths" or "corridors" between people. All lights are always on and typically constitute the only lighting in the exhibition hall, except for the natural light that spills into the space.

The piece uses a surveillance tracking system with tiny panoptic cameras placed on the ceiling; these detect the presence and position of people in the exhibition space. As participants walk through, the system automatically rotates the light tubes very slowly to create labyrinthine patterns of light that are "paths" or "corridors" between people. In "Homographies", the "vanishing point" is not architectural, but rather connective; it is determined by who is there at any given time and varies accordingly. This produces a reconfigurable light-space that is based on flow, on motion, on lines of sight, an intended contrast to the cartesian grids that organize most modern architecture.

The fluorescent light tube is found in most default architectural spaces: offices, schools, hospitals, museums, prisons, factories. The ubiquitous presence of these strip lights refer to our cold experience with architectural normalization, namely homogenization and globalization. Very often, fluorescents line-up and index a direction, especially when found in corridors. "Homographies" attempts to pervert that linearity and "privileged point of view" and instead offer a plurality of points of contact.

The piece was originally developed for the Entrance Court of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) and exhibited at the Sydney Biennale 2006.

General info

Spanish name:
Homografías
Year of creation:
2006

24 fixtures version

Technique:
24 motorized light tubes, 48 fluorescent tubes, computerized surveillance tracking systems, and custom software
Dimensions:
Each light tube is 1.83 m long, the artwork can cover an area of between 240 and 420 sq m
Edition:
3 Editions, 1 AP
Collectors:
Art Gallery of Ontario and private collector

72 fixtures version

Technique:
72 motorized light fixtures, 144 fluorescent tubes, computerized surveillance tracking systems, and custom software
Dimensions:
Each light is 1.83 m long, the artwork can cover an area of between 240 and 420 sq m
Edition:
1 Edition, 1 AP

Exhibitions


Credits

  • Production and Programming Assistance: Conroy Badger, Matt Biederman, Sandra Badger, Natalie Bouchard, Will Bauer

Bibliography