(Banner Image: TJ McLeish upgrading Colloquy in preparation for its heading to Europe. Perrier in tribute to Gordon Pask.)
After many weeks of toiling, master fabricator TJ McLeish has completed the mechatronic, digital hardware, and software upgrades to Colloquy 2018 in preparation for its crating and shipping to Centre Pompidou in Paris. There it will be shown in their major exhibition, MUTATIONS / CRÉATIONS 4: NEURONES / LES INTELLIGENCES SIMULÉES from 26 February through 20 April 2020.
When first created by Gordon Pask and shown in London in 1968, Colloquy of Mobiles was unlike any immersive gallery experience. Five interacting, human-scale mobiles (see photos below) held a “conversation” with each other through light and sound, exhibiting cooperation and competition. In significant ways, Pask’s “colloquy” (a “speaking together”) of mobiles from 1968 exceeds the interactivity of today’s conversational interfaces.
On the 50th anniversary of Pask’s original creation, the Colloquy 2018 Project implemented a replica faithful in appearance and behavior, while utilizing modern mechatronics and digital technology. With the success of the replica, the world-renowned Centre Pompidou requested that it become part of a major upcoming museum exhibition. Similarly, the ZKM Museum in Karlsruhe, Germany, has asked to acquire the work for their permanent collection.
Final preparations for this future of Colloquy 2018 were completed at Omnicorp Collective Detroit this past weekend, with the help of current and former students of the MFA IxD program of the College for Creative Studies, where the project was initiated 2 years ago by McLeish and Paul Pangaro. (You can read here about replicating Pask’s original Colloquy.) A wide range of upgrades were made to improve the reliability and behaviors of the mobiles before transferring the work to Artpack Services for crating and shipping.
For example, new lighting has been added to closely match the original. In the photo on the right below, showing a female mobile without its fiberglass body, TJ holds a harness with an LED strip that will light up the interior of the females. These lights will display the fluctuations in “drive” levels of each of 3 female mobile during their “conversation” with 2 male mobiles. (Read about Pask’s original conception of Colloquy in his essay here.)
TJ also redesigned and 3D-printed new mechanisms to control the females’ mirrors and rotate all the mobiles with more control and reliability. Synchronized behaviors of the mobiles have been tuned and also incorporate new sounds that we learned about only recently.
Another upgrade for Paris is a “canopy” situated above the mobiles to form a visual framing of the entire work, much as in the 1968 original. Aluminum frames will hold either metal mesh or a fireproof fabric, visually contextualizing the work in the gallery space. Lighting that shines upwards from the male and female mobiles will appear on the surface.
We continue to seek donations and thank those who have generously donated. We have applied for 501(c)3 status to allow for tax deductions in the US.
Please direct questions to Paul Pangaro at colloquy2018@gmail.com.
