The idea I came up with is a tabletop sculpture with a middle section made of layers of laser cut acrylic with several small chutes/tubes going down from top to bottom allowing water to flow down. There would be a small reservoir at the bottom and an electric pump to move water back to the top.
Additionally, there would be RGB LEDs pointing upwards into the acrylic from the top or bottom, providing an edge lit effect, which I think would be made even more interesting by the light’s interaction with the water.
While it would still look nice doing a static animation, I want the behavior to be more complex, taking in some external inputs. For example, it could use temperature and light sensors to influence the colors of the LEDs and the rate of water flow. Using a microprocessor with internet access could also allow weather data to be used. I am also considering the possibility of having a way to individually control the flow in each chute, likely with solenoids, though I haven’t really thought through the feasibility of that yet.
Artist’s Questions
I’m not completely set on the exact design from the mock up, so these are some things I’m considering if you have any thoughts:
- Should I make it wider or keep it more vertical? Making it wider would allow for more chutes and therefore more “variables” to play around with as outputs, though I also like the verticality of having it thinner
- How tall should it be? (the mock up is 17 inches tall in total, with the acrylic panels being 12″x5″)
- I haven’t thought too hard about how to handle the return tube going from bottom to top; some options are just having a separate tube in the back (which might look kind of ugly) or having an extra chute like the others, but going bottom to top. Any thoughts?
- Do you have any ideas for additional inputs or outputs?
- Do you have any ideas for extensions to the concept in general?
I like this concept, and the animation you posted really helps clarify it. I was also struck by the lack of a return tube for the water, until I saw that you hadn’t thought too hard about that part yet. I think having one or two pipes (same color as the rest of the casing) for the water/a hose to flow through would be an elegant way to do it.
Mapping the light color to weather data makes sense to me, partially because the flowing water resembles rain. Another thought would be to change the color/power the pump when someone walks by the case.
Regarding size, I was honestly surprised by how tall you intended to make it – but if you have the resources to make it that size, having a large sculpture would allow many people to observe it at once, and it would make for an entrancing centerpiece rather than fade into the background of a room.
I think it makes the most sense for it to be tall and thin – if you make it too wide, you may find yourself struggling to fill the whole space with light and water, ending up with lots of empty volume instead.
For the water pumps, how would you handle spacing out the flow and gaps of air? Couldn’t these brief periods of pumping no water lead to it burning out. As for a return tube, I wonder how visible it would be if it was sandwiched between the layers of acrylic in the center or in a corner. Air bubbles could make it more visible I suppose.
My first thought is what would happen if you used alcohol or colored water or different fluids. That probably makes it too complicated though.
Are you thinking of having a pool at the top or bottom? The reflection of the pool could be interesting with the water.
The extra chute(s) idea seem the most promising, you could alternate tubes going down with tubes going up, since you’ll probably need the same amount of water going up as going down.
Whoa, this is a cool concept. I agree that I prefer it being on the taller side; it reminds me of a waterfall. The return tube is definitely what’s on my mind. Do you think you could have a pattern of supply and return tubes? It could achieve an interesting effect. Or maybe there could be different modes where each tube has the capability of supplying and returning water. It would change the perspective from “supplying” and “returning” to just bringing the water up and down. One mode could be an alternating pattern of up-and-down across the tubes and another mode could be all of the water going up and then all coming down. These different modes could also be a result of different inputs.
I could see this being small (~8″) on a desk as decorative lighting, being medium size (~17″) to look like an art piece in a museum, or even huge (~7′) to be in the lobby of a fancy hotel. Its a pretty versatile concept!
I really like this idea, the different colors with the water are fun to watch. I think you should stick with the sculpture being vertical, I like the sleekness. 17 inches sounds like a good size for the piece if it’s going in a room/indoor space.
In terms of the return tube, you could encorporate a couple motors at the bottom that with pressure, pull the water back up to the top. To encorporate this into your design you could have it integrated into the pattern. So for the animation you provided here where all the water is going down, you could have some water going down while other water is moving up. You could also encorporate a small reservoir of water at the bottom of the piece to make sure there is always enough water to be brought back up to the top.
I really like the concept, water interacts really interestingly with light. It may be worth it to think about if you want the piece to be one sided or for you to have the ability to walk around the piece. It could be interesting if maybe you could have ways of interrupting the water flow.
This is such an awesome concept! I think 12 inches for the acrylic is a pretty good scale. Wider could be interesting, but I think I prefer it being thinner: as others said, these proportions are a lot like a waterfall. I know I already suggested this earlier, but I think the return tube being inside the layers would be interesting. If you wanted to add more movement to the return tube so it’s not just solid water pumping up, you could add a small stream of bubbles. Also, you could add LEDs on the top and bottom with different colors, so you get interesting multicolored refracted light from different angles. If you’re gonna have lights on the top, how are you planning to hide the wires?
I enjoy it being more vertical than horizontal.
I think the original mockup dimensions seem like the ideal size, maybe an inch or two taller or shorter would be okay.
If you could have the return tube going up the side of the acrylic, I feel like that would be the most visually pleasing way to deal with it.
I am already impressed with the animated mock up. I’ve been staring at it for at least a solid minute, so I think this is a fantastic idea. Would the pump be sending down a constant stream of water, or would it just release it in short spurts? For the tube of the pump, you could also consider incorporating it as an aspect of your piece. Maybe add on a couple other faux tubes, give it a more industrial look.
This is a really cool concept and I think will make for a fun and challenging project to work it all out.
You’ve gotten some great suggestions from other folks, and I’ll just throw out a few other ideas:
-Strobe lights that can “freeze” the water as it moves
-glow in the dark fluid with UV lights
-Solenoid valves would be very cool. Poor man’s DIY is a mini-servo that crimps a flexible tube