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Context:

This is part of an installation i have been working on for a few years... Called 'The House is Past'. The main concept, in very short terms, is the balance that the exile constantly struggles to achieve between his/her socio-cultural roots and the newer context; a constant battle between the melancholic remembrance of “home” and the necessity to assimilate and transform habits and customs, dictated directly by the new environment surrounding the expatriate. It’s truthfully a mission to reach a working compromise, between these two coexisting identities.

Inside the second room of this piece (which is what i am focusing on right now), a dim flickering light will be hanging from the ceiling over an old ‘50s style chair. A vinyl record player will play the soundscape I have written and that I have been working on together with artist friend Gadi Sassoon from Milan. The soundpiece major purpose is in fact to guide a ‘blindfolded’ visitor through a space delineated and mapped through the use of haunting sounds, such as white noise and the voice of appliances as well as church bells, typing and water drops. Sounds and smells are probably the strongest memory triggers available and allow the viewers to bring into this spaces their personal baggage and memories.

Here is the light dimmer kit i built:

Here is the code:

/*
DAC pins: digital I/O 6 - 13
*/
int time;
long randNumber;

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
//set pins as outputs:
for (int i = 6; i < 14; i++) {
pinMode(i, OUTPUT);
}
time = millis();
randomSeed(time);
}

void loop() {
setDAC(random(255));
delay(random(1000));
delay (10);
}

void setDAC(byte DAClevel) {
byte thisValue = 0;
for (int k = 6; k < 14; k++) {
// read the appropriate bit from DAClevel:
if ( (DAClevel & (1<<(k-6))) >0 ) {
thisValue= 1;
}
else {
thisValue= 0;
}
// turn on or off the pin based on the value of the bit:
// Serial.print(thisValue, DEC);
digitalWrite(k, thisValue);
}
Serial.println(DAClevel, DEC);
}

And here is the video of the transitions: