After exploring water and electromagnetism last week, I went back to one of the first sources of inspiration for this project: cymatics. I also used AI to help me come up with a cheap prototype idea. That prompt led to the discovery of a cool device: exciters. Instead of using a cone to push air like traditional speakers, it can be mounted on a surface. That surface vibrates and pushes the air particles around it, generating an amplified sound. If you’re curious:
I was initially very pumped about this discovery, but quickly moved to its limitations. It’s not water proof, so I can’t directly put it in water. If I put it on a thin plastic plate that contains water, I don’t think it’ll be strong enough to create waves inside the water.
I think I already mentioned this in a previous post: water vibrates at the club 🪩 when it’s directly next to the speakers, so I might not need direct contact with water to achieve my goal - but let’s say that getting one of those speakers is way above my cheap prototype budget of 50$. 😅
So if we do a little recap of where I’m at in my brainstorming process: I have a vision for what I want to evoke in the audience. I collected different ideas of what has already been done (cymatics, river inside a museum by Olafur Eliasson, gong in water, water in sound bowl, ocean sound immersive experiences, moving water using electricity, WaterPearl, etc.). I don’t want to simply recreate what has already been done, but I don’t really know where to go from there. 😂
It’s been good to look around and find sources of inspiration, but I also feel like I’ve been staying in my comfort zone. The time for experimentation has come. Even if I start with a simple prototype that fails, I’m certain it’s gonna lead to learnings, new ideas, iterations, etc., or in other words, momentum.
So, after a little break on Marketplace, I am happy to announce that I just came back from picking up three big subs I’ll put apart into pieces to:
- use the cone(s) for my prototype;
- learn how speakers are built;
- possibly reuse other parts?
Excited to finally get to some hands-on work! It brings me back to my 2nd year of university where I put a printer apart to present it to my classmates. I loved it!
Good old days, and good future ones to come! 🥳👩🔧
Don’t be surprised if the final project doesn’t use any parts from this prototype. It’s part of the process (trying to convince myself 👀).
See you next week for more on this adventure!
This week’s aquarelle. Inspired by last night’s thunderstorm:
p.s. found this inspiring man during my research today: Alexander Lauterwasser. He did a lot of cymatics with water, a beautiful example of someone who embodies their last name (translates to “Loud water”). He shares a beautiful perspective around biology in this video around 5:00 (recommend watching the whole video and putting the subtitles for non-german speakers). Enjoy! 😊