A door is a portal that can separate our personal space from the rest of the world. A door can make us feel safe and give us control. For that reason a door is also a communication membrane in which two people can create dialog across. A door has its own protocol and vocabulary. The knock is specific to the door. Its a greeting, an inquiry, and a demand.

"Knocking" explores this communication space by altering the protocol and creating the illusion of two-way contact. As you knock and offer to begin the portal-crossing ritual, the mechanism on the other side records your pattern and returns an interpretive knock--a mysterious echo. You are invited to maintain dialog or view the other side to see who or what is knocking back.







The mechanism is built with an arduino driven knocker cast from my hand and lathed from maple assembled with lasercut plexi.