lux aeterna
LED on diffused acrylic, custom electronics, 9 minute audio loop, code
2017
Lux Aeterna is a light sculpture that explores the nature of perception by turning a foreign location into a phenomena using movement, degrees of light, and sound. The piece reimagines the most tangible connection human kind has to the terrestrial planet of Mars. It aims to define a space through converting information into an ethereal experience for the viewer, enabling them to think spatially about this data. Lux Aeterna expresses landscape as a sculpture and the movement as light and sound. Kinetic motion transfers the sensation of information to the audience through ethereal changes in light and generative audio.
The piece uses multiple datasets from NASA's Open API – topography of Mars is turned into a pixelated form and the path traveled by Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars is directly translated into the motion of the LEDs. Lux Aeterna offers a unique and holistic way to experience the planet Mars, thus opens up a dialogue about our experience on the Earth. It represents and comments on the subtle changes in the rhythm of a new terrain, investigating on the new possibilities to reshape our experience in our own spaces.
