This installation is the progression of her “Touch – 2005” project in which she used magnets and timers to control the movements; however, in this new installation project, she was curious about utilizing math in art, so she started looking for reliable relations between movement and sound. She considered ASCII code and Morphism to imitate the inner sound of her psyche, though she can’t deny the effect of exposure to Far Eastern rituals.
The following materials were used to construct this installation: two blocks of timber (2mx9cmx9cm), two solenoids, one transformer to reduce the voltage to 20-amp DC, some electric switches and wires, a timer to adjust the time for the switches, 6 pieces of wire to hold the blocks in place, 6 suspensions, 6 hooks placed on the wall, 6 hooks installed on timbers, and finally 12 clamps to hold the wires in place.
Formulation
Below you will find the methodology used to synchronize and develop the tempos:
We define category `K` with respect to the objects which are words like `silence,` `sound` and `of` ……, hence we should define a morphism between objects as follows:
MOR (a, b): = a b
For example: MOR (sound, of): = sound of
Therefore, the definition must have three properties:
- MOR (a, b) and MOR (c, d) have intersection if and only if a = c and b = d
- There is a combination map O: mor (a, b) X mor (b, c) → mor (a, c) such that for all objects in `k` like `a` has identical map mor (a, a) such that mor (a, a) X mor (a, b) = mor (a, b) and mor (b, a) X mor (a, a) = mor (b, a)
- Mor (a, b) X (mor(c, d) X mor(e, f)) = (mor(a, b) X mor(c, d)) X mor (e, f)
We observe that the above definition is true in three properties, so next, we attempt to apply these algebra statements in the artwork.
Mor (sound, of) X mor (of, of) X mor (of, silence) X mor (of, of) X mor (of, sound) = sound of silence of sound (*)
We need to create a new statement; thus, ASCII code is used for this new statement as exhibited in the following chart. Then we devote a number to each letter from the interval [10, 45] cm according to their value to find the diameters of the blocks; therefore, the diameter of the block representing letter O is 45cm, letter S is 35.1cm, letter N is 33.6cm and letter U is 24cm respectively.
Implementation
It was only after determining the diameters that she was able to order the timber blocks. 10 pairs of timber blocks were installed and suspended in the air. Each pair’s movement was made possible by some pneumatic system jacks consisting of the following parts:
- AVR Microcontroller
- Glass Relay
- Pneumatic Valves
- Compressor
- Pneumatic Jack
There is a control program that sets the time sequences for the timber pairs to strike at the right time. These timings are based on the letter’s ASCII code in base 2 (0 and 1). For instance, the code for letter C is 1100011, which means the blocks representing the letter C must strike and stay in touch for two seconds and then separate for three seconds, and then again strike and stay for two more seconds. After a single cycle is complete, there is a rest period of 5 seconds.