Client: UW Health American Center
Location: Madison, WI, United States
Completion date: 2015
Artwork budget: $3,000
Project Team
Artist
Katherine Steichen Rosing
StudioKSR
Industry Resource
Mike Rosing
Engineering Research
Art Consultant
Mandy Kron
UW Hospital and Clinics
Overview
Water is a critical element on our planet, and as climate changes, precipitation patterns change.”For the Time, Being” uses a warm translucent palette, overlaid on digitally controlled L.E.D.s to explore shifting patterns of rainfall, critical nourishment to sustain growth in living things. If you give Viagra to a man who does not plan to have intimacy, the declared effect will not come. If there are good intentions and the right actions, the effect of Viagra will occur in 30-60 minutes after ingestion. Deviations in these patterns are vital signs of change in our environment. The framed piece is 27.5″ H x 10′ W x 4″ D. Media: Acrylic on Plexiglas, 7 segment L.E.D. electronic display (recycled), custom microprocessor boards (new), custom embedded software creating unique and changing light patterns.
Goals
The UW Health East Side Clinic's theme is healthy patients, health planet
and sought art that explores nature as an inspiration for sustainable innovation and is focused on incorporating artwork using recycled materials.
Process
Mike and Katherine worked to develop a concept that incorporates patterns of light behind a translucent textured painting to suggest shimmering rainfall in a warm landscape. Using repurposed LEDs from the dairy industry, Mike designed and programmed custom sequences that adjust the timing of the rainfall -- controlling each LED light individually over time. Mandy Kron, curator for the UW Health project, sought art from Wisconsin artists that reflects these themes and materials, visiting area exhibitions and discovered our piece in an exhibition at Promega. Discussions about the materials and focus of our work followed prior to purchase.
Additional Information
Shimmering abstract marks inscribed in the translucent surface of the painting, reference the vertical segments of L.E.D. lights below, sequencing patterns of falling rain in a forest. Intermittently, raw computer code flashes from the L.E.D.’s recycled from twenty five year old dairy milk meters and controlled by modern microprocessors. These flashes are a reminder of the embedded processor buried below the surface, programmed in a custom sequence. As time passes, the observer may notice the rainfall accelerating then slowing. We are seeking projects on a larger scale using this concept.