star locator & instruction book
item#: 034 & 035 (I have two)
materials: paper
status: taken (1.26.08 & 2.13.08)
My mid-term project for my physical computing class was lots of fun. The concept: a tent that had little lights under a layer of fabric. When you touched the walls you could “light up” stars and create your own constellations.
At the time I had a tent set up in my apartment. I slept in there sometimes, my friends came over and slept in there sometimes. Later, I turned it into a womb. Anyway, I made a model, and then I constructed tent panels out of shower curtains. I did all the circuit stuff, but couldn’t get the sensors to function properly. Like many of my physical computing projects, it never worked as I hoped.
These materials and left over pieces of this project have a bit of a sad history. I was sorting through all the panels, the LEDs, the circuits I had spent hours soldering, the patterns for the tent model, and the sketches I had made for the design, and I just started crying. I loved making this, I still think it was a fun idea, but all these things represent a lot of failure, a whole era of creative projects that just never worked… so, it’s time to let these things go.
The pattern, made from paper, I recycled. I dumped the model with all the electronic bits. I will probably make envelopes out of the enlarged star locator maps and shower curtain panels. As for the original Edmund Scientific star locator (and instruction book), I’d like the next chapter in their history to be more positive, much better, and brighter.
The Star Locator was listed on Philadelphia’s freecycle network. Freecycle, as they state on their site, is all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. I like that. The woman who came to pick it up wanted it for her grandson. I hope he’s enjoying it.
update (2.12.08): Just yesterday I found yet another star gazer and an instruction book (How many did I buy???). SO… maybe you are reading this now and you want to star gaze. Maybe you want to make a star tent. Maybe you just want to attach better memories. BUT, maybe you don’t live in Philly. I can mail it to you.
updated (2.13.08): A lovely woman at the First Person Arts Salon took the second star locator. She couldn’t stay for the whole presentation, but she was very cool. I hope she finds lots of stars. They’re hard to see in Philly, but still easier to find than if you lived in Seoul (where the pollution is so bad that you can look at the sun in the middle of the day).
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