Eclipse (2015) is a pair of sculptures created for the airport in Edmonton
Canada by the Los Angeles based artist Christian Moeller. Each piece features a pendulum suspended from the roof of the building,
set in a continuous randomized motion over a static base.
Christian approached Aeolab with an idea and some initial electronics experiments for the piece and we helped to realize his vision by developing a custom circuit and programming actuation of 3 powerful electromagnets.
Elegance of the technical solution lies in the fact that the electromagnets function as both sensors and actuators for the permanent magnet embedded in the pendulum base, each powering up momentarily at the precise moment when the pendulum is swinging by. The distributed feedback loops of sensing and actuation running on 3 electromagnets creates a never-ending and somewhat unpredictable and gradually varying movement of the pendulum once it is set in motion.
Christian approached Aeolab with an idea and some initial electronics experiments for the piece and we helped to realize his vision by developing a custom circuit and programming actuation of 3 powerful electromagnets.
Elegance of the technical solution lies in the fact that the electromagnets function as both sensors and actuators for the permanent magnet embedded in the pendulum base, each powering up momentarily at the precise moment when the pendulum is swinging by. The distributed feedback loops of sensing and actuation running on 3 electromagnets creates a never-ending and somewhat unpredictable and gradually varying movement of the pendulum once it is set in motion.
