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part 1-B
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The Divine Algorithm, Part 1
SECTION A: What The Public Saw
Contents of this Document:
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part 1-B
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My Installation Layout
This is floor plan of my installation in its final form. It is not drawn to
scale. The distance between the fire exit and the north wall of the gallery
is about 8 feet, and the distance from the "paddle box" on the west
wall to "Flux" to the east is about 20 feet.
"installation.gif:" 33k
This picture was taken while standing approximately where the directions
are marked in the lower left-hand corner of the layout diagram.
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part 1-B
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Sun God Animation -- "FLUX"
At the eastern end of the installation layout above, you will note the
little box marked "Flux"; my animation was displayed here on a 13"
monitor sitting on a pedestal.
"technogod.gif": 80k
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A few semesters ago i created an animation in SoftImage(tm) to represent
a figure which has since become an obsession, and subsequently, the focus
of my MFA. The figure resembles a Native American sun god, whose face is
laced with circuit board leads. A hand, representing man, is embedded in
the pattern. The crown usually found surrounding such Native depictions is
made up of electrical schematic symbols, such as those for power and ground.
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"sandpaint.gif": 315k
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In order to clarify and emphasize the relationship between the
technological god and the hand of man, i began my animation with a sand
painting of just the face; the hand appears close to the camera, then
slowly moves back to be incorporated into the design.
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"spingod.gif": 78k
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Once the two elements have joined, the combined figure begins to become
more streamlined and "high-tech." Having burst out of the 2nd
dimension into the 3rd, the figure begins to spin on all 3 axes.
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Underneath the monitor on which this was looping, i mounted kind of a
"mission statement" for the so-called "Temple of the Divine
Algorithm." It was written first in my goofy "hieroglyphic"
alphabet (details later), then in regular English. Here's what it said:
THE DIVINE ALGORITHM
THE EQUATION THAT BUILT THE UNIVERSE
THIS TEMPLE IS DEVOTED TO THE TECHNOLOGY THAT ENABLES US TO UNDERSTAND THE
STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE. ALL BEINGS WERE GENERATED BY AN EQUATION TOO
COMPLEX TO BE GRASPED BY A FINITE MIND. SOPHISTICATED COMPUTATIONAL
DEVICES ARE GATEWAYS OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN MANKIND AND ITS CREATOR, THE
DIVINE ALGORITHM. YOU AND YOUR TECHNOLOGY ARE LEARNING NOW WHAT ANCIENT
PEOPLES HAVE KNOWN FOR CENTURIES. ALL THAT YOU DO IS ABSORBED INTO THE
EQUATION. ALL OF YOUR OUTPUT BECOMES YOUR OWN INPUT, THE INPUT OF ALL YOUR
FELLOW BEINGS, AND OF ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS. YOUR DATA WILL BE ECHOED AND
AMPLIFIED THROUGH TIME AND SPACE UNTIL THE ALGORITHM HAS RUN ITS COURSE.
CHOOSE YOUR KEYSTROKES WISELY.
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part 1-B
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Paddle Box
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The "Paddlebox," as i call this backlit thingamajig, was
located at the western end of the installation. I took a piece of
Plexiglas 32" wide by 48" high and painted the "TechnoGod"
(the high-tech version of the sun god) onto it with stained-glass-effect
paint. My father and i built a special box to hold this slide in front of
a pair of fluorescent lights. So much for the "box" part, now on
to the "paddle..."
"paddlebox.gif:" 31k
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Fellow student and techno-whiz Jim Barr and i built a paddle that
houses three light sensors. These sensors detect the presence or absence of
light, and convey this information to a PC via a DG24 board. When light is
detected by any sensor, the PC relays that information to an Indy, which plays
a sound effect. Each sensor triggers a different note; we chose 3 sounds from
the music track from "FLUX." Sliding the paddle over the sun god image,
users could create a kind of melody by activating each sensor individually or in
various combinations.
| The paddle is constructed of tranluscent, neon-colored Plexiglas.
This image shows the side of the paddle that the user touches; if you
look closely, you will see the outline of a person's hand, the palm and
thumb of which are filled with blue plastic. The hand's background is
bright yellowish-green. |
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"handpaddle.gif:" 39k
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"godpaddle.gif:" 33k
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The other side of the paddle is the one that has the light sensors,
and is therefore the side that is meant to be held up to the paddle box.
The bright orange plastic forms the face of the sun god. Two of the
sensors can be seen (along with their square circuit boards) behind the
two "lobes" of the god's head; the third is in his mouth (the
small circle near the bottom of the paddle).
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| On the wall on either side of the paddle box were images designed to
encourage the artistic archaeologist to interface with the Technogod.
This particular image was mounted to the right of the paddle box. The
one to its left was the mirror image.
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"plaque.gif:" 8k
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part 1-B
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Mountain Range Light Boxes
"range1.gif": 116k
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"range2.gif": 114k
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"range3.gif": 109k
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I wrote a program in RT1 (a real-time animation language developed here at
EVL) that randomly draws mountain ranges. I used this program to create a
triptych of ranges, which i had printed out on translucent plastic and then
mounted on light boxes my father and i built.
Each light box was displayed with a data printout underneath it. The display
on the left showed the hexadecimal code behind its corresponding image. In the
center, there was a printout of the program used to draw the mountain ranges.
Here, alphabetical text was replaced with my "hieroglyphics."
On the right, i displayed a text translation of the corresponding image,
although i admit i cannot remember what language spawned this particular bit of
text.
"mountprog.gif": 9k
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Here is an excerpt from the hieroglyphic printout of the program that
generates the mountain ranges. This printout was the one that appeared
underneath the center image.
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part 1-B
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The Divine Algorithm
This is the title piece of my show, and its final form ended up being very,
very different from its original plan (described in "SECTION B"). Back-to-back with the monitor on
which FLUX was looping, there was a low pedestal on which sat a PC and a green
monochrome monitor. This monitor was displaying what appeared to be the results
of a very complex equation. All text was in my own hieroglyphic alphabet.
Emerging from the PC was a ribbon cable, the other end of which was attached to
a world globe sitting on the floor in front of the PC.
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part 1-B
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Show & Opening Invitation / Information
"invite.gif": 219k
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This is the front of the invitation we sent out to announce our
show. It was designed by Deb's lovely and talented husband,
Scott Melchionda.
And yes, we are aware that it is very phallic.
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The group show, "Divine Organic Push/Pop" was open to the public
at Gallery 400 (400 South Peoria, Chicago) from Wednesday May 8th through
Wednesday May 15th, excluding the intervening weekend. Gallery hours are 9:00
am to 5 pm weekdays, 12:00 pm to 4 pm Saturdays.
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Here is a map of the area surrounding Gallery 400. From the 90/94, exit to
the westbound Eisenhower ("to western suburbs"). DO NOT MERGE LEFT
when youreach the Eisenhower; instead, exit immediately to Morgan Street.
If you want to look for street parking around the gallery, turn right onto
Morgan, then right again at the first stoplight (Van Buren). To park in
the closest available lot, turn left onto Morgan and then left again
immediately into the visitor's parking lot.
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The opening reception for "Divine Organic Push/Pop" was held on
Wednesday May 8th from 4:00 pm until about 7:00 pm. Hors d'oeuvres and
cocktails were served. Our guests enjoyed melon balls, cheese cubes, veggies
and dip, and delightful little finger sandwiches. We also served beer, pop,
and cheap wine. We had an excellent turnout (maybe 70 people!).
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part 1-B
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