LIGHT . THE PRESENT _ the sublime

We, parts of a modern social-economy circle, are too busy to give ourselves a glance of an eye at who we are and where we stand. Without a name, job titles, social standings, or relationships, we might get lost in the process of self-identification.

In the sound spectrum, each frequency has its vibration represented by a distinctive shape. So, what about us?

”Everything in life is vibration” – Albert Einstein This statement inspired us to find ways of combining light, vibration, and sound to define human beings. Vibration here means the interaction of humans with light and its response, giving us confirmation of our existence and uniqueness through shadow images.

We applied Ernst Chladni’s experiment on wave phenomena, especially sound, and their visual representations in our project. In his study, a sand-covered surface was bowed until it reached resonance, a vibrating plate or membrane moved the sand to create patterns. Modern science explains this as patterns formed following the regions of maximum and minimum frequencies when vibration is present.

We have chosen a typical corridor that people go through at high density to demonstrate our project. While walking on this corridor, people with their hustle and bustle might forget to enjoy their presence. This project would be a reminder.

A system of evenly vibrating glass panels is attached to the ceiling and connected to sensors on the floor. Only when the movements of users act on the floor can this system work. It starts with touch on the sensor floor, a signal is sent to the vibration-creating machine and glass panels starts vibrating. The beating of these glass panels moves grains on their surface, and the cymatics patterns will appear. The light goes through this surface and casts shadow on the floor where people are standing.

Each of us is a unique rhythm, but together we would make a harmonic song. Our project emphasizes the interaction between living and unliving, light and vibration, humans and technology, dynamic and static. Besides aesthetics, we hope to provide an existential experiment, helping users slow down their breathing, look into themselves, find who they are, and appreciate how precious life is.