Liquid Lens Installation
Gordon Head Rec Center
Public Art Commission
The Liquid Lens was
created for the Gordon Head Recreation Center Leisure Pool extension
in Victoria BC. The piece was installed in the summer of 1996 to
coincide with the opening of the commonwealth games of that year.
The piece was developed and constructed over a two year period and
included many technical and material aspects. The center piece of
the installation was the 'liquid lens' and the 'cloud canopy array'.
The Liquid Lens creates
its own lighting effect, a specially designed micro circuit controls
the motion of motors which modulate the surface frequency (vibration)
of a clear liquid suspended in a transparent tank. The input signal
to the system originates from a pre-recorded tape, specially designed
sound effects are transformed into mechanical movement through the
circuit & motors into standing wave patterns in the liquid.
The frequencies and transitions of frequencies are projected by
multi-coloured diacroic filtered light onto the overhead 'canopy
array' stretched into the super-structure of the roof.
Other components of
the installation included 'diffraction tiles' and 'heat sensitive
tiles'. The diffraction tiles were created from a finely machined
metalized plastic material which collects & scatters light.
This material was laminated between a composite substrate and a
surface layer of glass. The tiles were placed in the pools and around
areas of the pool decks. The created a beautiful shimmering lighting
effect underwater and on the decks as one moves around in the space.
The heat tiles created from liquid crystal . These tiles would change
colour as they changed temperature, constructed in the same manor
as the diffraction tiles, the heat sensitive tiles were placed in
steam rooms and pool deck showers.
|