Asterism

About the project

Asterism is an interactive lighting system designed to encourage sharing. In its continuous array of light bulbs, only one may "hold” the light at any moment. Participants can move the light from one bulb to another using one of three sliders. When they do, as a way of broadcasting their intention, a portion of the light moves first: red, green or blue, briefly leaving behind the remaining portion until it is also pulled to the new position, restoring the white light. This new position is synchronized across all sliders.

When multiple people attempt to move the light simultaneously, it becomes evident that they must reach a consensus, as the light will only occupy one position in the end. This interface seeks to allow the tangible nuances of sharing, like negotiation and collaboration, to be experienced through the intangible medium of light.

Asterism was created in my 2019 research residency at Insertio, intended as the lighting system of a Québec-city housing cooperative’s common area. Each apartment would have its own slider, and would have to share the lighting with neighbors. Since then, it has been reformatted as an exhibition piece.

The project has been developed in collaboration with Insertio researchers James Partaik and Jaime Patarroyo