6:00 pm – doors open, first experiment

6:30 pm – start auditory experience, composed in collaboration with Erol Leenhouts.

x:xx pm – Erol will perform a live set based on the nights earlier experiments.

9:00 pm – end of experiment.

SCULPTURE – DISSONANCE, a hanging sculpture, playing with the tension between the delicate beauty of glass and the possibility of it breaking in response to sound. The sculptures hang on three fishing lines, underneath the sculptures there are round canvases (MDF) ⌀ 118 cm, raised by 10 cm. Each fishing line is attached an individuel moving part of the scupture and to a stepper motor, the rotation of which is controlled by sound measurements. The sculptures open and close due to the rotation of the stepper motor, causing them to move up and down.

[materials per sculpture] Transparant, blue and cyan Borosilicate Glass, ink, 3 NEMA stepper motors, 3 TB6600 stepper drivers, ESP32, microphone module, PolyLactic Acid (PLA).

SCULPTURE – DECAY is a crawling sculpture that moves over the canvas activated by the visitor’s movement. Two wirelessly communicating ESP modules enable the free movement of the sculpture. It is presented on a raised wooden canvas measuring 45 cm high ⌀ 118 cm. Four HCSR-04 motion sensors are placed under this canvas, each in a different direction. LED pixels on the bottom show a loading circle as long as there is no movement. When motion is detected, the sculpture responds by moving and the pixels light up on the side of the detected motion. The movement eventually causes the sculpture to fall from the raised canvas to a lower canvas ⌀ 240 cm on the ground, which visitors are allowed to walk over. The broken sculpture is replaced, and the cycle repeats.

[materials per sculpture] Transparant, cyan and blue borosilate glass, inkt, ESP32, 2 NEMA stepper motor, 2 A4988 drivers, PolyLactic Acid (PLA), diverse electronica.

[materials base] MDF, 4 HC-SR04 motion sensors, ESP32, LED pixel, diverse electronica.

SCULPTURE – DRIFT, a rotating sculpture,  developed in combination with a soundscape where visitors could float along with the sounds. Drift is a mirrored version of the hanging sculpture Dissonance. Centrifugal force opens and closes the glass sculpture, moving it up and down over a z-axis. The movements are controlled by the difference in sound measurements.

[materials per sculpture] Transparant, blue and cyan Borosilicate Glass, ink, Nema 17 stepper motor, TB6600 stepper driver, ESP32, microphone module, Aluminum rod, PolyLactic Acid (PLA)

Reflecting on past exhibitions, Verloop recognized the inevitability of visitors interacting with her kinetic work, sometimes leading to unintended damage. This observation made her curious about the potential for unmonitored audience involvement. Would spectators go as far as attempting to fully destroy the machine if left to their own devices?

Driven by this questions, Verloop committed to a research period, exploring various sensors, micro-controllers and programming. Her objective was to develop a series of experimental kinetic prototypes that responded to their environment using sensors in various ways with the goal to engage the public more intensively, using their presence as input for the machine. This exploration aimed to showcase the added value and possibilities of sensors for her work, outlining potential next steps. 

With this new step the machine evolved as a performer, responding to the audience through sensor-driven interactions, and the spectator became part and activator of the machine performance.

‘Impulses’ is supported by V2_Lab and the Research & Development grant from the Centrum Beeldende Kunst Rotterdam.