Nostalgia Mechanica, 2025
We wanted to create a piece that evoked the colourfulness of childhood nostalgia. We incorporated interactive elements that would trigger lights and sounds reminiscent of vintage wind-up toys.Our amazing friend Joeri Genntjens helped us a lot with the woodworking component of the project. A large mirror frame, and five boxes were fabricated with wood. The boxes will eventually have large acrylic gear-shaped controllers attached onto them. They also serve as a protective structure for the raspberry Pi’s and Arduino chips which will allow the piece's interactive components to function.Jay Bauer designed a soundscape evoking familiar sounds heard as kids such as waves softly crashing on the lake, fireworks, mourning doves cooing, windchimes on the porchCustom fluorescent acrylic gears are cut and will be attached with an axel system onto the wooden boxes. A mirror is attached to the wooden frame using winter rated adhesive. We custom 3D printed and painted an archway, which we attached to the mirror to soften the shape of the frame.———————————————————
Nostalgia Mechanica, 2025
Nostalgia Mechanica is an interactive sculpture that immerses you into childhood memories. Spin each gear to unlock a nostalgic sound such as waves on the lakeshore, mourning doves cooing or windchimes on the porch. Once all gears are spun, a special sound collage and light effect "activates" the mirror portal-which is adorned with hundreds of trinkets and ephemera. We invite the participant to look into the mirror and think about the bright and joyful moments they may have experienced as a kid. Contributors: Construction: Joeri Geentjens Sound: Jay Bauer Set up: Chris Copeman, Victor Quezada-Novoa and Shan Chhibber , Nick Olsen, Hanwei Ng and William Bateman-Hemphill