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ELECTROSTATIC BIRDS, 2012

darsha — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 23:27:07 +0000

Cathode ray tube televisions, metal leaf electroscopes, static electricity, custom electronics and computer program

DAUGHTERS OF DRONE, 2013

darsha — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:58:34 +0000

* Technical collaboration with Casper Electronics. More information coming soon.

MCLAREN & LAMBART EFFECT, IN PROGRESS

darsha — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:01:38 +0000

Poulette Grise Test was a technical experiment carried out by Norman McLaren and collaborator Evelyn Lambart at The National Film Board of Canada in 1946. The 3 minute and 44 second film consists of a tightly framed maquette of a dark bedroom where a series of ghostly apparitions of chickens eerily undulate within the set. The animators were testing out a technique for a vignette in a series of animated francophone folk songs.

The experiment which consisted of projecting still images onto moving surfaces within a three-dimensional set did not provide them with the results they were looking for – the technique was never used. My experiments here are based on this technique tested out by these animators over 65 years ago.

FEEDBACK BABIES, 2011

darsha — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:36:31 +0000

The Fisher-Price Nursery Monitor (circa 1983) was a low watt household radio set originally intended to “let parents be in two places at once” by broadcasting the cries of a baby in distress to a mobile receiver accompanying a parent outside of earshot. However, when in very close proximity these devices produce audible feedback that sounds uncannily like whimpering electronic babies. Feedback Babies is an electromechanical sound apparatus that makes use of slow moving motors to automate these transmitters in order to create nuanced feedback patterns.

darsha — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:30:43 +0000

MINI UNGINEER’S NOTEBOOK (work in progress), 2011

darsha — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:52:42 +0000

The Mini Ungineer’s Notebook is a hand drafted reference booklet that I’m currently working on that pays homage to Forrest M. Mims III’s Mini Engineer Notebooks. Mims is prolific amateur scientist and electronics writer. His Mini Notebooks were published by Radio Shack during the mid 1980s – early 1990s – over 75 millions copies of his sixty books sold.

ELECTROSTATIC BELL CHOIR, 2012

darsha — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:31:45 +0000

Static electricity affects everyday materials in curious ways – hair stands on end when rubbed with a balloon; laundered clothing clings together if an antistatic sheet is not tossed into the dryer; a static shock transmits from a finger after one drags their feet across the carpet…

The Electrostatic Bell Choir is an electromechanical sound installation that plays with the static electricity emitted from discarded CRT television monitors. This static (that can be felt when one places their hand on the screen when the TV is turned on) is gleaned for its potential to generate subtle movement and is used as the driving kinetic force in the artwork.

Sets of static bells* consisting of ultra lightweight pith balls and bells from old grandfather clocks and rotary telephones are mounted in front of an assembly of twenty reclaimed Cathode Ray Tube television sets. A control circuit cycles the TVs on and off in alternating sequences which causes static to build up on the monitors. This static charge agitates the hanging pith balls, causing them to waver and lightly strike the bells ‐ resulting in quasi‐melodic compositions. The TVs are muted, tuned to various channels of white noise and physically spacialized in order to devise a dynamically layered soundscape textured with the signature high-frequency hums, pops and buzzes of the cathode ray tubes warming up. Although compositions are programmed into the piece, it inevitably takes on a character of its own as the static fluctuates and dissipates in response to ethereal nuances (i.e.: changes in air quality such as humidity). The glow of the screens and the subtle resonance of the bells magically punctuate the dark surroundings of the installation.

*Electrostatic bells were invented in 1742 by Andrew Gordon, Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University at Erfurt, Germany. This is the first device known to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy (the moving of a bell clapper back and forth between two oppositely charged bells). It was popularly used at the time to predict oncoming thunderstorms by sensing static electricity in the air. The Electrostatic Bell Choir aims to focus the sensibility of this invention to a more personal scale where it demonstrates the intriguing effects of the invisible environment that constitute our domestic spaces. The artwork is at once mysterious yet can be tangibly deconstructed as the relationship between the static charges and the bells is observed as the TVs illuminate and catalyze the effect.

Production of this work was made possible with the generous support of Edith-Russ-Haus für Medienkunst in Oldenburg Germany, Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and Hexagram Concordia.

Scanned Sketchbook: Notes on Building Electronics, 2009

darsha — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:38:30 +0000

Images Scanned from One of my sketchbooks, 2009 – See Article and Images Here

Darsha Hewitt too makes her process transparent, in this case by showing us her personal sketchbook, where she draws the diagrams and schematics for her devices. Her drawing style is in large part an homage to the inventor Forrest M. Mims III, who wrote many do-it-yourself electronics books and articles in the age before the internet and computer-rendered schematics. Darsha’s meticulously drawn and lettered schematics on grid paper are, to those in the know, instantly evocative of Mims’, yet manage to convey Hewitt’s obvious excitement and delight with this material. Her style is deliberately anachronistic, even the Rona Jaffe novel which donated its cover to the notebook dates from the era of Mims’ notebooks. This could well be, except for a few small clues, a document from 1978 rather than 2008.” – Rob Cruickshank

W∆LkiE T∆LkiE R0b0T M∆rChing B∆Nd Electronics

darsha — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:39:34 +0000

Dual 555 timer square wave generator

darsha — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:05:25 +0000

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