Author: Emma Lefley

Binary is an interactive art installation that is meant to resemble restroom stalls. The piece requires those who choose to interact with it to confront a gender dichotomy other than man or woman.

Binary Documentation

This is an in-progress interactive art installation

Phase/Prototype 1:

Participants are invited to respond to the question prompts on the screen by typing one word responses on the keyboard. The words are then displayed in a random location on the screen after participants press enter. The words entered, along with digital synthesizer sounds, are triggered by motion detection, i.e. when a person moves around in front of the screen, different words and sounds show up depending on where they are located on the screen.

Phase 2:

A next phase of the installation is currently being developed.

It is anti-racism piece in which participants are invited to participate in a loving-kindness meditation. The installation space includes a labyrinth design to guide the participants through the walking meditation. Motion detection is incorporated throughout the installation space in order to detect where the participants are located, and depending on where the participants are located, different voices, sounds and images specific to the meditation will be triggered/appear.

It is an intentional space for the audience to reflect on their relationship to racial bias through an active loving-kindness meditation. Walking the path of a labyrinth on the floor of the dome structure, participants are guided by the recorded voices of BIPOC individuals. These voices are cued at specific moments based on the location of the audience members as they travel the labyrinth. Images of the faces of the meditation guides, as well as images to support the act of reflection, also appear as projections on the walls of the dome structure at specific moments in the journey. The experience culminates in a call to action for the participants to shift their thinking regarding their own racial bias and commit to the work of dismantling white supremacy and ending structural and interpersonal racism.

Desk Set is an installation that was created for the Arts Tech Film Festival in Normal, IL. The installation is inspired by a scene from the film Desk Set, and it was set up in the Normal Theater leading up to the screening of the film. The installation was created by myself plus a small team of people. I created the effect of the rain on the screen using Processing.

Morning Outside is a sound piece that was installed at the University Gallery in Normal, IL. Participants were invited to gather in a room with no light while listening to this sound piece as it played out loud on speakers in the room. The goal was for the participants to be fully immersed in the sound experience with as little additional sensory input possible. The process of making the sound piece was done in two parts – the first part of the process includes a single audio recording of various sounds that occurred in the world as I walked around outside, and the second part of the process includes digitally synthesized sounds made to resemble the sounds captured in the audio recording. In the sound piece, both the digital sounds and audio recording sounds can be heard playing together in synchronicity.

The stars are 3D printed. Each star is placed over an LED on the LED strip. The LED strip is programmed with different LED animations and color settings. The LEDs are programmed using an Arduino Uno and the lighting animation and color settings are controlled using a touch screen LCD display that is hooked up to the Arduino Uno.

The acrylic rods were heated and bent to create the sculpture. The base that the acrylic rod sculpture sits on is made out of wood and covered in epoxy resin. LEDs are placed underneath the base, with one LED under the end of each rod. The LEDs are programmed with different lighting animations and color settings. There is a button, which when pressed, switches between the different lighting animations and color settings. The LEDs are programmed using an Arduino Pro Mini.

A role of mine at Sticky Art Lab includes independently coming up with art projects and working with children to facilitate their involvement with the projects.

An intention behind my involvement with Sticky Art Lab is to facilitate human growth and creativity.

Below is a list of projects I came up with and facilitated at Sticky Art Lab:

Jungle Boogie is an installation created for the Children’s Discovery Museum in Normal, Illinois. The installation is directed at a young audience with the intention of creating a fun, interactive game where children are encouraged to create a song using various animal sounds made at the touch of a button. The installation was created by a group of eleven people, including myself. Jungle Boogie was constructed in various layers. One group member created the board in which the children will use to press the buttons to create a song. Two members and myself created the buttons that are pressed by soldering wire to pressable buttons and connecting them to a Makey Makey. The Makey Makey was then connected to the program Processing, which another group member and myself programmed. A group memeber then created the sounds of various animals using Ableton Live so that they can be layered over eachother to make a song. We inserted the sound files into Processing so that they can be played on the command of the press of the button connected to the assigned sound file.

Work in progress interactive musical installation with an accompanying narrative and puzzle-like experience. Acrylic structure contains LEDs, amplified sound, and small computers.

Generative audio system built in SuperCollider. Central state store in Node.js with Redux. Node.js process also receives button signals from Arduino and animates LEDs.

Infinity cube light sculpture dimensions are 6″ x 6 “. The LEDs are programmed using Arduino. I used a RedBearLab Blend Micro board to store and execute the Arduino program. I programmed six different animations; I attached a button to the outside of the cube to switch through the different animations.