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November 12, 2006
Complimentary Color Lamp
Brief: This project incorporates Bauhaus professor Johannes Itten's ideas on color harmony into a mobile light installation.
Elevator Pitch: In his seminal book on color theory "The Art of Color" ("Kunst der Farbe"), Johannes Itten outlined how to find complimentary colors using the red yellow blue (RYB) color wheel.
Itten designed a Color Star to give students of art and design a means for creating harmonies in their compositions by selecting colors on the wheel that lay in specific relation to one another (120 degrees, 90 degrees, etc.).
This light installation uses Itten's Color Star as a basis for selecting four harmonious colors - each of which will be displayed in one component of a moving lamp. As the lamp slowly rotates, the color wheel will also rotate, selecting four new harmonious colors.
The lamp will have 4 circular bulbs, each of which will display its own unique color. The bulbs will intersect with one-another in the center. The base of the lamp will stand on a motor, rotating the lamp in 360-degrees. The base will be mounted from the ceiling.
Demo: View a Quicktime Movie.
Keywords: Light installation, lamp, color wheel, ambient, complimentary colors, mobile, Bauhaus, Johannes Itten.
General Scope: Exploring the impact of ambient modulate-able lighting in a space.
Intentions: To use lighting as a way of modifying the appearance and mood of a space. As such, the installation should be put in a space where it will have a great impact (the center of a room, the corners of a space).
Audience: Could be used as an illumination system in a public space or as a art object in a home lighting system.
Comparison: It's fairly different construction than the the disco ball, which is used primarily in clubs and concert venues. Traffic lights only have 3 colors - nor do they rotate. And it's far less practical than a lamp or chandelier, because the lights are constantly changing color and direction. I'm not familiar with the history of light installation, so any references would be greatly appreciated.
Resources: I already have the majority of the physical computing technical requirements available to me (8 RGB LEDs, 1 Arduino microprocessing board, 2 shift registers, 1 DC motor, 1 potentiometer). I could use some additional direction to the industrial design of the project - wether or not to use rounded plexiglas or glass bulbs(or other light diffusing materials). I plan to visit some lighting shops, Canal Plastics, the NYU AMS and consult with my fellow students with backgrounds in industrial design.
Posted by Jeremy Rotsztain at November 12, 2006 03:21 PM