Interference

1080 LEDs, dichroic filters, custom hardware, generative software
100 cm x 100cm x 20 cm
2018

Interference is a sculpture that reflects on the simultaneous behavior of light as a wave and a particle. The sculpture displays two interfering light waves that slowly become coherent and then drift apart at varying scales and frequencies. The work's form is a scaled-up replica of a 'woodpile' structure, a manmade photonic crystal used guide and manipulate light. These crystals mimic properties found in nature in the form of structural coloration as some butterflies or opals and are observable as iridescence. It is a series of programmable LEDs that are covered with dichroic filters to produce an effect of shifting colors that change based on the viewers position. The work was inspired through the ‘Scale Travels’ residency program at the International Iberian Nanosystems Laboratory, where I worked with the photonics group to study inherent properties of light and color. The viewer’s observation of the work is at once a demonstration of the phenomena of interfering light waves and the interference of light waves itself.

Audio is from "Laminar Flow" a binaural field recording of the machine room of the INL clean room facility in Braga, from 2018.

This work was made during a Scale Travels residency at the Iberian Nanosystems Laboratory with the assistance of the Nanophotonics Group in Braga, Portugal and was supported additionally by CALQ and CAC.

Press:
Mendes Dias, Tiago. 2019. "Uma Viagem Às Profundezas Da Matéria E Da Luz Recriada À Medida Do Olho Humano". Publico. (Accessible here)

Lemoine, Stephanie. March 27, 2020. “L’intelligence artificielle s’inflitre dans l’art contemporain”. Le Journal Des Arts. pp. 16-17.(Accessible here)

Renault, Stéphane. Feb. 02/2020. “Quand les nouvelles technologies repoussent les frontières de l’art contemporain”. Telerama. (Accessible Here)

Diouf, Laurent. Feb. 23, 2020 "Human Learning, Ce que les machines nous apprennent" MCD - Mag