| contact name | jackbackrack |
| artists' names | jackbackrack |
| artists' locations | Cambridge, MA USA |
| art name | Protochoice |
| art media | Modular light |
| art dimensions | 3'x3'x3' |
| art date | 2005 |
| art description | Protochoice is a modular lighting prototype which computes a
lifetime of chance decisions. It is comprised of 27 1x16" printed
circuit boards with two usb connections on each end providing both
structural and electical glue. A collection of protochoice boards
permit the construction of a wide range of wireframe sculptures.
Boards can be reconfigured while running. Protochoice is the first in
a series of modular electronic sculptures by the artist.
In Protochoice, sparks travel along the sculpture making chance left
or right decisions at each juncture. Boards communicate with their
neighbors passing along each spark. Sparks have limited lifespans and
are spontaneously regenerated after a period of inactivity. Finally,
sparks can also be introduced using a board mounted button.
Protochoice was inspired both by Eric Saund's Markov cube (which was
built at MIT a dozen years ago and mesmerized folks until the sad day
when it was stolen) and by XTC's ``Complicated Game'' song asking the
profound question of whether I should part my hair on the left or
right, which eventually forced me to decide to not part my hair at
all. Collisional art is greatly dependent upon techknowledgeable
friends and I humbly thank Mark Tobenkin, Jeff Lieberman, Kevin
McCormick, James Patten, and Hayes Raffle for the many hours of
teaching me to fish. Making any art is inspired and nutured by a
community of artists and believers and for them I am truly indebted; I
want to thank Brian Knep, Fran Trainor, Mindy Zarem specifically and
Collision Collective more generally. Finally, Protochoice was
partially funded by the MIT Council for the Arts. |
| art proposal | It's a wire frame cube with embedded led's. The lights on the
led's flow down an edge and randomly choose to go left or right at
each vertex. It's an allegory as life as an endless series of binary
decisions. |
| art placard | Protochoice is a modular lighting prototype which computes
a lifetime of chance decisions. It is comprised of 27 1x16" printed
circuit boards with two hot pluggable usb connections on each end
providing both structural and electical glue. A collection of
protochoice boards permit the construction of a wide range of wireframe
sculptures. Protochoice is the first in a series of modular
electronic sculptures by the artist. Many thanks to Mark Tobenkin,
Jeff Lieberman, Kevin McCormick, James Patten, Hayes Raffle, Fran
Trainor, Brian Knep, Mindy Zarem, and the Collision
Collective. Inspired by Eric Saund's Markov cube and XTC's
``Complicated Game'' song (i.e., should I part my hair on the left or
right?). Partially funded by then MIT Council for the Arts. |
| art url | www.jbot.org/cc/10x/markov-cube.htm |
| date | Sunday, February 13, 2005 |
| time | 10:43 PM EST |
| contact affiliation | MIT CSAIL |
| contact address1 | 253 Norfolk Street, #16 |
| contact city | Cambridge |
| contact state | MA |
| contact country | USA |
| contact zip | 02139 |
| contact phone1 | 617-876-0789 |
| contact email | jrb@pobox.org |
| art status | to be done |
| art maintenance | no maintenance |
| art auto | nothing |
| art sound | no sound |
| art light | produces light. keep in dark environment. |
| art needs | hung from ceiling |
| art safety | no safety issues. |