Assignment #2

Brainstorming
Algae                                                                               
Bio-luminescent Bacteria           
Luminous mold 

Idea
I am fascinated with Bio-luminescent Bacteria and I'm curious if it can be manipulated and influenced into lighting up on certain scenarios. Deep sea fish have organs called photophores which contain bacteria that react to a chemical within the organ. Other methods of organic luminescence can be found in insects and parasitised nematodes. Another thing I am looking into is black light luminescent mold. Depending on the situation, the mold should be manipulable into forming patterns.

The main Idea is to create a shallow container container composed of plexiglass with a fogged bottom. The next step would be to place Mold samples at one end and then dampen the rest of the container. Over the next days of growth on the surface, below the box will sit a device designed to sweep a black light tube back and forth not unlike a scanner. This will cause the growing mold to light up under the black light and reveal the growth patterns.

Phase 2 would be to suspend a live feed camera looking down at the container. MAX would be used to create a grid of points across the video file and whenever the black light would illuminate mold in green or yellow, the points on the spots would send an audio signal in order to create a sort of music that would evolve over time. if it works correctly, the notes will progress in time with the moving black light. 

Materials
Plexiglass
fogged plexi
hot glue
Mold samples
Mold "food"
ball bearing rail system
tube black light
Power source (Battery or other)
motor
computer
spray bottle
Live feed cam & vid cable

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