I find it rather odd that an object that is created from a VERY dynamic process - the wood spinning, the cutting tool pivoting off the tool rest as it's rotated this way and that, shavings or chips flying fron the cutting or scraping edge, the person on the other end of the tool swaying and rocking, perhaps the whole lathe vibrating or actually trying to walk away
- ends up being
- STATIC
- usually just sitting there - to be LOOKED AT.
Now don't get me wrong - many turned pieces are really nice to look at and some provoke - or evoke - all sorts of thoughts and feeling - which can change over time. But they're almost all LOOK BUT DON'T TOUCH. God forbid that you drop them, or get fingerprints on them or break something. You want to see the back of the piece? Well walk around it
- if you can - and have a LOOK - BUT DON'T TOUCH.
Oh, BTW, what you see - is only light reflected by the OUTSIDE surface of the piece. OK - so there are carved and pierced pieces that let you see some of what's INSIDE the piece - but you're still seeing just the reflected light. Either way, the light source is EXTERNAL - sunlight through a window bouncing around before it gets to the piece, maybe a dedicated light bulb "spotlighting" the piece.
Viewer and Viewee - one dynamic, one static - one looks, the other gets looked AT.
But WHAT IF - the piece could have a more active role?
WHAT IF - it could sense your presence -"see" or "hear" or "feel"?
WHAT IF - it could act, either independently - or interactive WITH you?
WHAT IF - it could change what it looked like - by changing some of its color?
WHAT IF - it could MOVE - perhaps rotating slowly - or - rocking gently
- or had parts that swayed gracefully?
WHAT IF - it didn't have to just sit there - static and quiet - passively?
The answer to all those questions is: - IT DON'T GOTTA BE - static - passive or - quiet.
There are these little things called "stamp controllers" - small battery powered little mini-computers - some a bit smaller than a Zippo lighter, half the size of a woman's "compact" - or smaller. And with a few of the many types of little electronic "sensors" to tell the little computer controller that something has happened, other little electronic "things" can be told by the controller to do things
- light up, blink, flash, fade on and off, and even change colors as they do
- make sounds, play a melody, speak words, sing and even change based on what YOU do - through a little speaker the controller controls
- make the piece rotate left or right or left and then right, or have one or more parts of the piece move left/right, up/down - either preprogrammed of reacting to what YOU do.
I picked up an Arduino Duemilenove (Italian for 2009) at a Makers Faire a while back and have been playing with it - and some sensors, LEDs and a little speaker. With some example programs (they're called "sketches") I downloaded off the net, O've been playing with this THING. And it looks like the possibilities to incorporate ACTUAL MOVEMENT, and light and sound, in a piece CAN be done without having to climb a steep learning curve. I'm not saying that there's NO learning curve, but it's no steeper than any of the learning curves most turners have already climbed. And the entry level price of admission isn't much more than the price of a couple of decent gouges or chisels. You do need a home computer or laptop to do the "sketches" on - and you need a USB cable to connect the computer to the "controller" - but if you're reading this you've already paid for it.
There are turners who are already playing with "stamp controllers" and making "sketches" to do THINGS. And as they find each other and begin sharing "sketches" and ideas, the learning curve for them will begin flattening out. And what one might do with a set of "parts" and a "sketch" could be completely different from what someone else may do with the same "parts" and "sketch".
What are your views on kinetic/interactive pieces?