Father

This installation was in the memory of my beloved father who died on April 2018. I always imagine him watching me from somewhere. This art piece would represent my thought about the loss of a beloved one. His memories are clear in my minds; I can recall his appearance but there is that missing tactility that makes him unapproachable. In this light installation, people would see a face that is outlined by lights. As soon as they try to approach the figure, lights start blinking and the outline of the face would not be clear anymore. Audiences would not be able to get close to the piece since seeing the face is possible only from distance.

The face of my father is outlined on a black fabric using LED strips behind the fabric. In order to do this, I used white LED strips behind a black fabric. I used the grid method to enlarge the image of the face of my father five times bigger. Therefore I could have a bigger proportion of it in order to illustrate it on a 105*150 cm2 fabric.

The viewer would see this piece in a dark room so the only light source in the room would be these LED strips outlining a face. I used Arduino board and ultrasonic sensor to get the light to sense the presence of people in front of it.

Here is a short video of people interacting with this installation.