“Light Structures” by Daniel Wayne Miller

Exhibiting Artist(s):

• Daniel Wayne Miller

The urban landscape is changing continually. In this environment, there is a build up and breakdown that occurs over time. Artificial systems act as extensions of natural systems, mimicking the needs of the organisms from which they were created. These artificial and natural systems produce information that becomes layered into a complex matrix of instructions. Ultimately, an interdependent network is created between the artificial and the natural systems. Light Structures is an event characterized by continual change.

Change takes place in the structural motion that consequently alters the light within the room. Each of the 5 individual structures light up in response to motion nearby projecting light patterns onto the ceiling. The light levels are modulated through an exterior wire skin on each structure. Different combinations of patterns are created as light from each structure overlaps it’s neighbor’s light. The light level information on the ceiling is then read by all five structures below, causing them to rise or fall. Each structure will respond to various alterations in the lit environment, this includes the natural sunlight coming through the windows. As the intensity of the sun changes throughout the day so will the activity level of the piece. The structural machine elements are characterized by a vertical linear motion contrasting the plant life hung just below eye level. The plants create a sprawling horizontal ground plane that wraps around the cluster of structures. Plants are structural organisms that depend on light for nourishment and growth. In the absence of light plants would recede and perish. Dependence on light for growth intertwines the organic and inorganic in this work. That this event is not confined to one simple structural or living element complicates the way simple systems behave in this work. Light Structures is a continuous running piece, yet it cycles itself with the changing of each day.

Change takes place in the structural motion that consequently alters the light within the room. Each of the 5 individual structures light up in response to motion nearby projecting light patterns onto the ceiling. The light levels are modulated through an exterior wire skin on each structure.