A long 55” x 22” canvas hangs horizontally on the wall at head height with photocells/resistors embedded into it in a 7 x 3 grid. The canvas is lit by a spotlight at the back of the room.

Participants can cast shadows onto the canvas; by blocking the light from hitting the photocells (sensors that detect light), a note mapped to the shadow-covered photocell will play.

I used a blank canvas to convey an unfinished work of art that is only finished when a participant's shadow enters the piece.

I brought the photocell data into Pure Data — a visual programming language for creating interactive computer music — and paired each photocell to a note between C4 to G#5.

The mapping is as follows:

C4 Eb4 Gb4 A4 C5 Eb5 Gb5
E4 G4 A#4 C#5 E5 G5 C#4
G#4 B4 D5 F5 G#5 D4 F4