Project Description
My project is a small sculpture: a black half-bottom face attached by a semi-transparent acrylic board around and covered by a piece of transparent acrylic board on the top. On the center of the transparent acrylic board, there is a CRGB LED light controlled by Arduino; a Neon LED Matrix is on the back of the project. The upper half of the sculpture represents the human mind. Visitors can “read” the mind through the semi-transparent acrylic board.
I intend to show the origin of the universe as humans believe it through this sculpture, the Big Bang Theory: the universe began as just a single point, then expanded and stretched to grow as large as it is right now. The top small LED stands for “a single point”. It starts from dark, then becomes brighter and brighter, and finally, “explodes” and “grows”. After that, the LED shuts off and the Neon LED Matrix lights up, changing color with time, which represents the changing of the colorful universe as present.
I was inspired by the HD Wall Paper attached below:
Perspective and Context
My project fits into the context of art and perception. According to Graig Adcock’s book “James Turrell: The Art of Light and Space”, art is “a matter of attitude, a ‘frame of mind’”. “Mind and the Universe” shows human’s belief of the origin of the universe in a simple way: it grows from a small dark dot to a brighter and bigger ball, and finally explodes into an infinite universe.
This art shows people’s attitude to the origin of the universe: from dark to bright, from single to infinity. According to Jack Burnham’s reading, we have read titled “Light as Sculpture Medium ”, rendered light into art, “must first be transmitted and transformed through materials” (Burnham 292). The process of exploding to the current universe in my project is shown on semitransparent acrylic rather than plain Neon LED Matrix. It consists of the definition of art mentioned by Burnham.
Development & Technical Implementation
My original thought of the project was different than “Mind and The Universe”: I wanted to build a project that shows the growing process of an eggplant by using Neon LED Matrix, semitransparent acrylic board, and two stepper motors.
This idea is too concrete to have space for visitors to imagine and create. Therefore, I reimagined my idea for this project. By searching Google, I saw an interesting wallpaper: the infinite universe is emitted from a lower half face to the top. I found it really interesting so I decided to build my project based on this picture.
Fuctions of my project: a 3D-printed lower half face model is on the bottom. CRGB LED represents a small dark dot, it grows brighter and bigger, and then it explodes, forming different kinds of matters and gradually turning to the present universe we observe today, which is shown on the upper half of semitransparent acrylic board with Neon LED Matrix light ejecting on the back of the sculpture. Different subsidence in the universe is “created” from iridescent cellophane inside the surrounding semitransparent acrylic board. 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EMMvNaVAmHeXgqNOGtc0I4vM58DpZAow/view?usp=drive_link
Presentation
My project worked well during the presentation. But at first, it was presented in the classroom without light. The CRGB LED went well, people can see it clearly from dark to bright, but the “universe effect” reflected through iridescent cellophane to the semitransparent acrylic board was not obvious. When the room light was on, people could see a clear universe from the semitransparent acrylic board, and I think the audience understood my project, they reacted as I expected.
One classmate who was in charge of making comments on my project said that she liked the design and the combination of light and space in my project, and appreciated the mechanism. There was one thing that could be improved: the Neon LED Matrix should be covered by a piece of paper rather than being exposed. By doing so, when the light in the room is off, people can see the universe more clearly.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZXwEtbVtqLBnZSEnt96QX-EH1utN1YyB
Conclusion
This project, being abstract rather than too concrete is what I learned. At the very beginning, my idea for the project was too concrete to leave space for the audience to imagine. Therefore, I changed my idea and built the “Mind and the Universe” project finally. The abstract allows viewers to interpret the piece in their unique way, fostering individual creativity and imagination. Without strict rules or predetermined meanings, people can maximize their exploration and enjoy seeing the project.
As for what I succeeded and failed, I made good use of light and space. The transaction from “exploding” CRGB LED to Neon LED Matrix is smooth, and the sculpture looks good. However, I failed to show the changing of the universe obviously through the variation of the Neon LED Matrix because of the high brightness. I’d better cover the Neon LED Matrix with a piece of semitransparent paper so that the effect of the universe will be better shown.
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