Proposal for Dennis Harrington

Electric Inertia
I will construct an installation that implements energy to convey the interactivity of idea contained in our society. I propose constructing a large tesla coil to be placed in the center of the first floor gallery. A break out point will allow the discharges of electricity to strike only upward towards the ceiling. I will fabricate an elaborate chandelier from electrical conduit, florescent tubes are connected hanging horizontally branching out in an arcing form radiating symmetrically in a circle. This chandelier is hanging from the ceiling directly above the large 4-foot Tesla Coil. As a safety precaution I will construct a faraday cage around the toroid of the coil except at the very top.
The accompanying piece will be a video installation, which will be projected on the south wall of the gallery about 4 feet up. A line of projected film will surround the viewer. The installation consists of a combination of three digital projectors mounted in a lateral series from the ceiling creating a long aspect ratio. The content of the film expresses how ideas interact, how they can be transferred, and start a chain reaction of new ideas. I will film one individual holding his hand up to a smaller tesla coil. His other hand will hold a fluorescent light tube, the other side is held by another individual. Who in turn also holds another fluorescent tube in his other hand. This filmed performance shows a linkage of energy transferring through the bodies of the performers and instantaneously illuminating the light tubes. I will show a line of seven people creating a light chain of energy.
To allow audience to view the intensity of light eminating from these machines I propose painting the windows with an easily removable paint. I plan on scratching small dots into the surface of this window paint so that in the day time light will shine through these cosmic stars beaming rays of light. This will also allow curious people on the street to peer through these holes enticing them into the gallery. At night the opposite will happen, light will shine out of the windows with a bluish glow from the tesla coil.
In order to make the gallery appear even longer I plan on embedding rectangular strips of felt and plywood into the walls of the gallery. The colors black, charcoal grey, tan and white will convey the expressive electric intensity lighting up the walls. See diagram for a better idea of the color scheme.
Energy is very pertinent to the current time period. Resources are running out and there is a general interest in finding alternative sources of power. The tesla coil was invented to create free-energy that could be transferred to an individual anywhere in the world. Nicola Tesla is becoming a better known inventor but his impact is still being calculated. I hope that this installation will enlighten people to the spectacle of his invention, the desire to find better sources of energy, and convey the essential integrity contained in my idea. I hope that viewers will physically feel the energy floating through the gallery inducing even more ideas.
Jonathan Hancock