electricity

open studio: boy meets girl /  by kelly heaton

Boy Meets Girl (2 Knobs with Variable Resistance), 2016. Colored pencil, graphite, and gouache on paper.  11" x 15"

This drawing is a study of potentiometers and their knobs as a metaphor for people and their personas. A potentiometer is a device that is used to adjust (vary) resistance in a circuit. Volume knobs are potentiometers. Or, more accurately, a volume knob is mounted into the shaft of a potentiometer to facilitate easy adjustment. In order than the entire mechanism doesn't turn when you twist the knob, potentiometers (aka "pots") are mounted into some kind of panel. Most people only see the knob mounted onto the panel, and are never privy to the pot behind -- which is the real story. 

Relationships are similar. We hide our true selves behind a rigid panel, a wall, presenting others with a knob, or persona, with which to interact. Other factors twist our knob, represented here by a bunch of thumbs in the sky. Maybe God, maybe fate, maybe spirits ... who knows. In my drawing, I included a spark gap in the foreground which will ignite if the boy's and girl's knobs are properly adusted. If they are turned on, so to speak, ;-)

open studio: who /  by kelly heaton

Detail of "Who," 2016.  Colored pencil, graphite, and gouache on paper.

I continue to study electronic circuit design as a means to represent the "energy anatomy" of a human being.  In this drawing, "Who," I have constructed each chakra of the body using a simple circuit designed to manifest the corresponding energy.  In the above detail, you can see the solar plexus, heart, throat, mind, and crown chakras (in ascending order).  In the coming weeks, I'll be working on sculptural studies of the chakras; and I will explain my reasons in greater detail.

open studio: buddha resists mara /  by kelly heaton

Buddha Resisting Mara, 2016.  Painted ceramic, wood, electronics, and wire.

A little sculpture / study of Buddha meditating beneath the Bodhi tree. To his left, is Mara assumes the appearance of death. To his right, Mara is the illusion of life. The branches of the tree are full of so many little resistors, pursuing their own journey to enlightenment.

open studio: study for a chakra totem /  by kelly heaton

Study for a chakra totem, 2016

Notebook sketch and circuit diagram for each of the seven human chakras compiled in a single sculptural totem.  The drawing reads from the bottom of the left page to the top; resuming at the bottom of the right page and ending at the top.  The circuit design for each of the chakras relates to the energy of that center.  The root chakra provides positive energy, ground, and negative energy.  The sex chakra lights an LED, the intensity of which is determined by a heat-sensitive thermistor.  The gut chakra is not really its own circuit, but I honestly cannot understand why the gut is not included in the 7 primary chakras.  Anyway, here it is a looping intestine of wires.  The solar plexus chakra illuminates according to ambient signals detected by a piezo electric sensor.  The heart chakra is an astable multivibrator with asymmetric capacitors, producing a pulsing light  like the beating of a heart.  The throat chakra is a speaker driven by the mind and crown chakras (although I should really couple in signals from lower energy centers).  The speaker is driven by mind and crown frequencies that are summed in the mind.  The mind also contains a timer circuit to generate its own adjustable and mostly digital rhythm.  The crown chakra is a simple crystal radio receiver.

open studio: shit resistor /  by kelly heaton

Shit Resistor, 2016.  Ceramic, steel, wood.  6" x 7.5" x 3.75"

Scatological humor for all of the crap in our world.  American politics, for example.  Or cheap appliances that break by design.  Or hundreds of TV shows and movies that are worse than boredom.  Or bad taste.  You pick whatever shit you need to resist; and take the high road.

open studio: model for a sculptural circuit to illuminate a street lamp /  by kelly heaton

Model for a Sculptural Circuit to Illuminate a Street Lamp, 2016

Here's my first shot at a model for a public art installation of electronic characters.  They are situated on a circuit board made of astroturf, with traces marked in turf paint.  The circuit uses solar power to charge a battery, which then illuminates a street lamp when ambient light levels are low.  The overall dimensions of the model are 20" x 20" and the scale is 1 inch = 1 foot.  

open studio: landscape circuit / lamp /  by kelly heaton

Study for a public art installation involving a circuit to illuminate a lamp, 2016

Colored pencil and watercolor on paper.  Circuit elements are imagined to be human-scale or larger.  A solar panel charges a battery that, in turn, illuminates the lamp when ambient light levels are low (i.e., at night).