Light Pendulum
This work was made together with Or Shoval for an exhibit that took place in the Jerusalem Science Museum in 2014. The exhibition was called "Make Light" and it's topic was laws in Physics regarding light.
With this project we wanted to demonstrate the transference of energy that happens in a pendulum in a visual clear way. We wanted the viewer to have a tangible experience and to make an interactive object that will create a different prospective on the matter at hand.
To make this exhibit we started by making a few simple models. They all failed! Our biggest problem with the model was the size and the weight of the balls. Since we knew from the start we wanted the balls to light from the inside we couldn't fill them with anything, so the weight of them will nit be enough in order to create the perfect pendulum motion and feel. If we can't control the movement of the pendulum (and we couldn't) then we can not demonstrate the transition of energy as we were planning to.
We quickly realized our solution had to be different, electronic. We decided to use electromagnets that would hold and release the handles of the balls and thus imitate the perfect pendulum motion and solve our lack of weight. This created a new problem, making the movements of the balls unnatural and mechanic. Luckily, with some physical and programming adjustments we had a working lightning pendulum.
This was mine and Or's first collaborative project and we have learned a lot about the process of making a large interactive object, how to manage our time and how to work with each other. The pendulum worked well during the time it was presented in the museum and many visitors enjoyed playing with it.
