Electronic Sculpture

Ceci n'est pas un pipe!

redwood, Arduino circuit, speaker
4 x 10 x 3 inches
2012

A prototype for a future gag gift product, Ceci n'est pas un pipe (this is not a pipe) is designed for use in a gallery setting. When the user places the pipe to their lips, pretentious statements about art play from the end of the pipe. Inspired by the famous painting by Surrealist artist Rene Magritte, Ceci n'est pas un pipe provides the user with the opportunity to assimilate themselves in the art world and contribute to the exciting exchange intellectual between gallery goers.

Phrases that the pipe produces include:

"It's conceptually strong, but aesthetically muddled."
"I'm looking to expand my collection..."
"Did you see the Cindy Sherman retrospective?"

Ceci n'est pas un pipe!, electronic sculpture by Lisa Banks, 2012

Pipe casing rendered by Larry Banks

 

 

 

LAB Series I: Space-Time Continuum

mixed media, found objects, video projector
50 x 18 x 24 inches
2012

See tomorrow, today! The LAB Series I: Space-Time Continuum is a remarkable device that empowers users with the ability to envision alternate realms. Finally, a scientific instrument that combines time and space into a single construct! LAB Series I enables the layperson with the ability to visualize space-time distortion, even without comprehending all that blasted math. Experience the sheer exhilaration of viewing the unknown, and catch a glimpse of the fabled fourth dimension!

What brilliant minds originated such an extraordinary apparatus, you ask? None other than the ingenious team working in the laboratory of renowned science-type Dr. L.A. Banks. Her products, known only to the layperson as LAB Series, are perfect concoctions of art and science in and of themselves. Stay tuned for more as Dr. L.A. Banks continues to endeavor to provide you with great feats of technology!

An electric sculpture incorporating a found device that purportedly allows viewers to see into alternate realms, the LAB Series I actually displays distorted viral videos. Viewfinder goggles on the front of the device look at an enclosed space illuminated by black light where a two-way mirror reflects a video display. Audio plays through a set of headphones attached to the front of the device. The sculpture takes it name from the found object featured in the work, a machine-formed hard plastic rectangular case that stands upright, opens on one side, and is installed with six black light bulbs. Originally designed as a skin care device, the LAB Series took on a new form in my 'laboratory.' In responding to the aesthetic and inert functionality of the object, I thought to create something that played with defunct technology in a humorous way.

LAB Series, mixed media sculpture by Lisa Banks, 2012

Both artworks were exhibited at the Museum of Art & History, Santa Cruz, Digital Art + Fashion Night, February 15, 2013.

Santa Cruz Sentinel article highlighting this work and that of other DANM students at the MAH exhibition.