TURBULENCE

'Turbulence' is a 4-foot column of acrylic that is lit internally with red, green, and blue LEDs that respond to tiny movements of air. This image shows some of colors produced as the sensor 'feels' air currents too faint to be felt by human senses. (Click on the picture for a larger view.)

Details of the air-current sensor in the in the upper images, and the brass support structure in the lower images.

Cigarette smoke makes the turbulent motion of rising heated air visible. The air-current sensors for 'Turbulence' includes a small heat source (5 watts, without smoke) that creates a column of rising warm air that changes from laminar to turbulent flow according to small air currents nearby.

Close-up views of the acrylic column of 'Turbulence.' It and other Comfort Light works are displayed at galleries in Bethesda, Maryland.

Bob

February 8, 2011, 1636 hrs EST