Mechanical insects integrate technology and art
Students who walk into the ATLAS Center, might be startled by a set of three giant moths overhead, lazily flapping their wings and shifting colors.
The three behemoths, measuring six to eight feet, are the work of Jen Lewin, a Boulder artist.
At first, the moths seem stationary, but when a human makes contact with one of the orbs coming up from the ground below the moths, both the moth and the orb begin to glow. The moths and the orbs change colors and pulse in unison, representing the heartbeat of the moth, as its wings begin to pick up speed with the heartbeat.
How long the moth stays “alive” depends on how long the contact between the user and the orb is. If the user touches the orb for just a moment, and the moth will briefly light up and quickly be extinguished. If the user remains in contact longer, however, the moth may keep on flapping long after the user has left.
“I’ve always been really infatuated with butterflies and moths,” Lewin said.
Just as butterflies and moths evolve from larvae, Lewin said her creations have gone through their own transformation, crossing the line between our world and the electronic world.
For Lewin, her work is the result of trying to integrate technology and art.
Lewin has been producing her interactive sculptures and art for over 12 years, striving to bring her audience into the artwork itself.
“99 percent of my work is fully interactive,” Lewin said.
Everything is not fun and games for Lewin, though. The three moths took two months to build and were not without their difficulties.
“The biggest obstacle was the wiring, and communicating the data,” Lewin said.
Had she not created the necessary technology before, Lewin said the project would have been much more time consuming.
Using the same technology, Lewin is currently working on a new project entitled “The Pool” which her Web site describes as an environment that reacts to the user’s movement inside of it and the amount of light it is receiving.
“You shouldn’t be reinventing the wheel every time,” Lewin said. “The same paints produce many different paintings; the same technology can create different art.”
Jen Lewin will attend a party in celebration of the installation on Feb. 14 from 4:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. in the ATLAS Center.
The interactive sculptures are open to the public from 7:30 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The MOTH Installation will be in the Atlas Center until Feb. 15.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Stephen Oskay at Stephen.oskay@colorado.edu.
