Photo-Synthesis
Daylight to pixel, computer generated images and photo-cell
Every 10 seconds, a microcontroller queries a photoelectric cell glued to the window of my Montreal studio. Generally speaking, the less light there is, the more the photoelectric cell resists. The value of the resistance varies according to the intensity of the surrounding light. The relative data are first determined by an analogue/digital decoder, then transmitted to a microcomputer. There they are stockpiled in a database and filed in chronological order.
1 figure = 1 pixel = 10 seconds – ((1 day = 1440 minutes) x 10 seconds) x 72 dpi = 44 inches
These figures are then analyzed and converted into pixels, at a rate of 8646 figures per day. The device thus works to create paintings out of sunlight. Digital technology works with surgical precision: the 12-bit analogue-digital converter that I use allows for 8192 shades of grey.
There is a macro-phenomenon at work here at an astral level: that of the earth’s rotation around the sun. On such a large scale, these phenomena become quite predictable. We are able to predict, even tens of thousands of years into the future, at what time the sun will set in any given spot. On my window, on the other hand, the luminosity is affected by a multitude of micro-variations: clouds, artificial lighting in urban areas, atmospheric pollution, etc.
