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Four years ago, EO听Rafelson became fascinated by a high-end kaleidoscope he purchased at an art fair.听
Now a Creative Technology and Design senior at the ATLAS Institute听pursuing an engineering degree, Rafelson has fabricated a high-tech kaleidoscope听for his capstone project as well as听developed a way to project the patterns generated听onto a planetarium dome.
Rafelson鈥檚 CTD capstone project, 鈥淜aleideo,鈥� was听presented at Fiske Planetarium on Nov. 9 for two free shows: 鈥淩eset,鈥� intended to be a 鈥済rounding experience鈥� with slow, ethereal scenes听and听鈥淩echarge,鈥� a faster, more uplifting show.听
鈥淭he audience never sees the same thing twice, and all the visuals are produced in real-time,鈥� said Rafelson before the show.
Rafelson creates听such unique images by using high-end mirrors as well as kaleidoscope cells which contain items floating in viscous liquid, and manually controlled LED lights that illuminate the kaleidoscope鈥檚 inner cells at different angles.听
鈥淭he coolest thing about the project is that all of the visuals are created physically as opposed to digitally,鈥� Rafelson said. 听
Teaching Assistant Professor Sheiva Rezvani, who听teaches the yearlong capstone course sequence, said听Rafelson's project is exceptional.
"Kaleideo is one of those projects that comes along that doesn鈥檛 just exceed expectations; it creates a whole new sensory experience that in its inception becomes a new art form in itself," she said. "EO has worked all year to create a new visual instrument of which he is a master. I am so proud to have been involved. I听can鈥檛 wait to see how his career and creative practice unfolds."
From solo to group experience
Before looking through听a high-end kaleidoscope, Rafelson听thought they听were toys for children. But after becoming enchanted with his art fair purchase, he wanted to find a way that those same visuals could be shared simultaneously by a group, instead of one person looking through a tiny hole.
Rafelson鈥檚 kaleidoscope is filled with beads, blown glass, glitter, crystals, gears and 鈥渕iscellaneous magic,鈥� he says. Instead of using household mirrors where light travels through glass before being reflected, he used front-surface mirrors, which reflect light directly from the mirrors鈥� surfaces, allowing a more seamless array of symmetrical images.
In children鈥檚 kaleidoscopes, each time the end is turned, the pieces of colored plastic move suddenly through dry cells, but Rafelson听fills cells with silicon oil so everything moves in slow motion.听
Several fader sliders听control various modes and colors of LEDs that are built into the kaleidoscope and illuminate the objects from the inside, while a听light bucket lined with a strip of LEDs allows other听lights to enter from different angles.听
He digitally records the visuals with a听smartphone camera using听an enclosure he fabricated. Using special software to move听the live footage from his听phone to a听computer, the image is compiled by a second software program that streams imagery to the digital projector.听
Each of Tuesday鈥檚 sets at Fiske included a short introduction by Rafelson. Performances were听about 20-minutes long, followed by an opportunity for the audience to ask questions and interact with Kaleideo.听
鈥淢y primary goal is that the audience experiences听a state of awe,鈥� Rafelson said. 听鈥淎nd depending on which show they came to, I hope they experienced听being reset, recharged or both.鈥�
