Distance = Color
leds, microcontroller, wood, metal, plastic
22" x 32" x 12" (2007)

-----This work consists of a grey box with a perforated metal screen. The box with a window houses a light panel that is able to display thousands of colors using red, green and blue LEDs. Mixing different amounts of light from the LEDs enables the panel to produce different colors. The panel has two layers of a plastic diffusion material in front of LEDs which allows it to display an even blending of the different colors. This color blending effect works on the same principal that makes it possible for your TV to create multiple colors. On the front of the box, there are two round transducers (speaker/microphone) that allow it to detect the distance of the viewer. These transducers detect distance similarly to the way bats detect distance. They emit high frequency tones (ultrasonic, inaudible tones) and measure the time for them to bounce back. Inside the box is a microcontroller and circuitry which is central to the programming and functioning of this device. -----The work is about translating nonverbal communication into colored light. Specifically, it is about translating distance into color. Depending on how far we stand from each other communicates something. Imagine saying “I love you” in someone’s ear versus saying “I love you” from across a room. This work intends to make the viewer aware of how distance can change a situation. It is important to be aware that proximity and closeness will affect the nature of communication. Of course, color is different from the reactions you might get from a real person, but I think there is value in seeing things from a different perspective.
----- Another quality of the work that is worth mentioning is that it is interactive. The interesting thing about the interactivity of this work is that it is involuntary. Whether the viewer is aware or not, they interact with the work as soon as they walk up to it. Often my work is interactive, but usually the viewer chooses to participate in a conscious manner. One of the key features of this work is that the viewer does not immediately know they are interacting with the work. It usually takes viewers some time to realize that their action (distance) is affecting the behavior of the work. In real life, people aren’t always aware that they are communicating a message with their distance. It is especially relevant that this work mimics that phenomenon.