metal + motors

metal + motors
Jim Murphy, Rodrigo Restrepo

metal+motors is an interactive audiovisual installation by Jim Murphy and Rodrigo Restrepo. It was first shown on December 16th, 2010 at CalArts.

Interaction with the DC motors is accomplished with ultrasonic proximity sensors. The data from the sensors is converted to voltages, altering the speeds of each of the DC motors: users can, in effect, “play” the installation space, altering the timbres and rhythmic elements of the DC motors. Each motor interacts with a metal object: bowls, metal tubes, steel plates, kalimbas, and found-object ductwork were used as metallic sound sources.