KALEIDRAL
(iteration 1, Bootloader), 2020
interactive audiovisual installation
13.3′ x 23.5′ x 19′ (4.0 x 7.2 x 5.8 m)
TYPE
Interactive AR / XR
Immersive Installation
ROLE
Artist / Designer
COMMISSIONED BY
LOCATION
Houston, TX
TIMEFRAME
4 months
DATES
Opened Dec. 2020
⭐ Updated Dec. 2021
SERVICES
Conceptual Development
Schematic Design
️ Design Development
Construction Drawings
Systems Design & Spec.
️ Server Assembly & Setup
Interactive Design
- UX / UI Design
- Interface Fabrication
- Electronics Assembly
MoGraph & Animation
Musical Composition
Sound Design
Audio Engineering
Installation
✨Projection Mapping
- Bug Smashing
Remote Mgmt.
BUDGET
$ ###,###
FABRICATION
SPECIAL THANKS
Dave Prez
Boston Kassidy
John Anselmo
Smooth Technology
ETYMOLOGY
ca·lie·drall | \ kə-‘laɪ-drəl \
Hall and [ instrument/alter ] for [ observing/honoring ] the sacred geometry that [ underpins/unifies ] the universe.
The term is derived from:
Kaleidoscope (n.)
From the Greek word kalos “beautiful” and eidos “shapes, geometry”.
Collider (n.)
Any of the numerous forms of particle accelerators that bring about collisions of atoms or other particles – typically by directing two opposing beams at each other – in order to study particle behavior during the collision.
Cathedral (n.)
A principal church (place of public honoring and reverence to the divine or supernatural power) containing the episcopal throne.
Stems from the Latin word cathedra “professor’s chair” from the Greek kata “down” and hedra “base, face of a geometric solid”
DISCO–GRAPHY
The Jovian jukebox draws from a growing collection of visual animations and musical loops. Soon the community will be able to contribute to this collection and mix their own sights and sounds within the synesthetic synthesizer.
UNDER the HOOD
The interactive audiovisual system utilizes seven projectors, a skeletal-tracking sensor, and dozens of knobs and switches to let users manipulate a generative audiovisual experience and facilitate musical learning.
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[ Artist / designer Joshuah Jest calibrating the interactive controls ]
INSPIRATION
Genesis of the Collider
The ALTER of ALL
One of the primary creative motivations behind the KALEIDRAL was a long-held drive to combine stained glass and projection mapping.
I spent a lot of time in my grandfather’s stained glass studio when I was young. The workshop in the back may have been where I learned to love a ruler. It was also where I first witnessed how drawings were used to manifest beautiful and complex objects into reality.
At one point in time stained glass represented the pinnacle of art, culture, and technology, the crowning jewel of every cathedral. The enormous rose windows required in-depth coordination between then cutting-edge structural engineering, material science, manufacturing, artisans, and religious culture-makers.
A modern reimagining of stained glass could simply update each of the primary elements – replacing hand-cut and painted glasswork with digital illustrations painted on Procreate, idolatry with contemporary pop idols, tracery stonework with machine-milled fiberglass castings – but what if the scope of the reimagining extended more broadly to the total epiphenomenon of the cathedral?
A contemporary nondenominational alter could incorporate and celebrate the best humanity has to offer across all applicable disciplines, including modern art, music, design, culture, spirituality, science, technology, engineering, and math.
