“The Imagination Machine, Version 2”, is a motion-sensing light sculpture made from a reclaimed airplane wing and artist-programmed circuit boards. After re-envisioning the installation with a ground-up redesign, I am excited to announce that it has now joined the ranks of Warhol, Picasso, Gaugin, & Dali in the permanent collection at The Schumacher Gallery at Capital University. Read more below.
How I Made “The Shy Machine”: An Interactive Kinetic Light Sculpture That Moves, Learns, & Reacts
by Daric Gill
{Time-Lapse Video of Process Above}
The Shy Machine is a motion activated, sound reactive, environmentally adaptive, kinetic light sculpture. As its name would suggest, this robot is shy. The two halves of this 12-sided geometric form open and close depending on the noise levels in the environment. Vibrant lights pulse from within according to volume in the room. The insides are packed with electronic brains, lights, and sensors to make this happen. In this article, you can explore the build process from start-to-finish.
“The Shy Machine”: Interactive Kinetic Light Sculpture that Moves, Lights, Learns, & Reacts
by Daric Gill
“The Shy Machine”: Fully opened in the Soft Volume Position. Slow undulations of rainbow light.
The Shy Machine: a motion-activated, sound-reactive, environmentally adaptive, kinetic light sculpture.
Taking over a year to complete (time split with other projects), this piece has been the most ambitious artwork I’ve created to date. It’s been my goal to create a piece with the specific aim of pushing myself beyond any previous personal limitations regarding engineering, finance, complexity, and conceptual meaning.
A project this involved earned a proportionate amount of planning and quiet contemplation before any work could even begin. At this point in my career, I view this particular piece as the combination of my childhood interests mingled with my adult potential. In this article, I’ll discuss how I came to the idea, how it works, and how I relate to it on a very personal level.
Daric Gill 
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