Chiaresthesis
This research project overlays traditional materials with new media. Wood is a naturally growing material sawcut from trees that has been utilized in architecture from its earliest inception. Strong, easily carved, and replenishable, wood has many species with their various properties of strength, density, and grain. In the construction industry, wood is a often used in light framing and heavy timber structure. In architectural interiors and exteriors, wood is expressed as exposed beams, interlacing bracketry, to carved panels and finishes.
New media such as microprocessors and sensors allow these properties to have expression beyond the tactile and tectonic. All materials found in architecture have resonance, capacitance, or other properties that are imperceptible to humans. In this project, the particular nature of organic wood grain, coupled with grooves from cnc milling, is expressed in sound.
The format of this research demonstration is straightforward. A plank of wood has been selected for its dark and high-contrast grain. Furthermore, it has been milled with large step-over tool paths to create peaks and valleys made of ridges. Sandblasting would also create similar relief as the softer wood lignin is carved away. A metal track with a carriage holding a camera and led light is fitted over this plank. As someone pushes the carriage and scans the wood across its length, the physical relief in the wood is read into a digital audio workstation (DAW). An led light was chosen to highlight the surface and articulate any depth and shadow. As an analog to digital conversion, this data can then be transformed into any number of sounds or audio effects.
Design Team: Simon Kim, Mariana Ibañez, Logan Weaver
Interaction by Logan Weaver