Dreambox
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Dreambox is an installation that takes me to a mental corner, where dreams, ideas, and memories reside. These mental entities have a life of their own, they can be more or less active, pulsate in synchrony or asynchrony, they can fall asleep completely leaving only one active, or even none.
This installation began with the need to decorate one of the spaces in the “Circular Corner” (Canto Circular) at Largo de Residências. The “Circular Corner” includes the “Community Cabinet” (Armário Comunitário) where you can exchange objects, and the “Community Cabinet” where you can exchange clothes, and this is where Dreambox is located.
Having identified the location to intervene, I found these plastic boxes on Blab, and immediately saw their graphic and aesthetic potential.
After some tests with the lights, it was decided that this was the way to go.
I wanted to place the boxes on the wall in a non-obvious and somewhat deconstructed way, as if the boxes had been falling over time. I did a series of tests in Photoshop until I found a pattern that I liked.
Regarding the lighting, it consists of leftovers from Neon LED strips.
The control box with all the electronics made with PVC.
For each light, I’m using a Mosfet. These Mosfets have an LED on the board, which allowed me to simulate all the light behaviors at the lab.
As I wanted the lights to have various behaviors, I decided to use a motion sensor (PIR), and as a redundancy, I added a microwave sensor that detects changes in electromagnetic fields. With these detections, the different states alternate.
Different states/behaviors of the lights:
Heartbeat:
All lights pulsate in unison, referring to the various ideas/dreams/memories that pulsate simultaneously in our minds, whether it’s due to multitasking, being unfocused, having multiple concerns, or simply being multi-dreamers.
Random Fade In/Out:
Similar to Heartbeat, but asynchronous. Disparate ideas/dreams/memories competing for attention. An unfocused mind or excessive mental activity.
Individual Activity:
A single active light, as if our mental focus were acute, with active consciousness and a mind filled with a single thought. Mindfulness, Nirvana.
This was my first solo installation after more than a decade of developing commercial projects for clients.
I would like to give a special thanks to Sónia Sousa (@Lady.Maker) for the invitation and challenge to participate in the “Canto Circular” and for believing in me to carry out this project. To the crew of Blab Colectivo Maker (@blablapt) for all the help and availability. And to Largo de Residências (@largoresidencias) for supporting and encouraging these initiatives.
It is also an honor to be next to “Masya, é uma instalação” by @m41.m, and to see how these two works coexist and communicate so well with each other in the end.
