I'm Laughing at Clouds: Michael A Pinsky
Date uploaded: October 6, 2015
'I’m Laughing at Clouds' by Michael Pinsky is an ensemble of nine tactile columns, which detect the heartbeat of participants and convert their systolic readings into a composition of light and sound.
The piece modifies public lighting to make it react to the individual. By touching sensors embedded in the lighting columns, the passerby creates a composition of light and sound. The lampposts are programmed to respond to the human touch and record the frequency of the person’s heartbeat. This data is presented through the illumination of the columns and through samples of children’s voices. Simple sung notes have been recorded from children attending Brunswick Nursery School. As visitors touch the sensors a child’s voice sings a note, then at the point the heartbeat is registered the note follows the rhythm of the heartbeat. Both the illumination and the sound gets progressively softer until they both drift away completely, only to be reignited by the sensor being touched again.
'I’m Laughing at Clouds' is a new commission by Anglia Ruskin University for the Young Street development designed by Richard Murphy Architects for ARU’s Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education and our Music Therapy Centre. Approximately 80 children from Brunswick Nursery School in Cambridge came into Anglia Ruskin’s Mellish Clark studios during January to sing notes to provide the sounds to be emitted by the column. The sculpture was fabricated by LightLab.
Anglia Ruskin University:
Anglia Ruskin University is passionate about the advancement of knowledge and the education of students, and they pride ourselves on taking university education in imaginative new directions. Their key contribution is to the enhancement of social, cultural and economic well being. They have three main campuses, in Cambridge, Chelmsford and Peterborough, with around 35,000 students and 1,000 academic staff.
The Artist:
Michael Pinsky is a British artist whose international projects have created innovative and challenging works in galleries and public spaces. He has undertaken many residencies that explore issues which shape and influence the use of our public realm. His work has been shown at: TATE Britain; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu; Saatchi Gallery; Victoria and Albert Museum; Institute for Contemporary Art, London; BALTIC, Gateshead; Modern Art Oxford, Cornerhouse, Manchester; Liverpool Biennial, Centre de Création Contemporaine, Tours and the Armory Center of the Arts, Los Angeles.
Dr Michael Pinsky graduated from the Royal College of Art. He has received awards from the RSA, Arts Council England, British Council, Arts and Business, the Wellcome Trust and his exhibition Pontis was shortlisted for the prestigious Gulbenkian Museums Award.
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