Family Day this month focuses on art and technology. Technology is the use of knowledge to invent new devices or tools to make people’s lives easier. What are some technologies you use every day? Take a look around you and see what kind of technology you can find. Artists often use technology to create art. New technologies have allowed artists to create things like ceramics, stained glass and photographs. Rebecca Rutstein used technology to make “Shimmer.” This sculpture uses LED lights that change patterns when people walk past it. There are motion detectors on either side of it.
Rebecca Rutstein (American, b. 1971), “Shimmer,” 2018. Powder-coated steel, LED lighting program, motion sensors. Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Collectors of the Georgia Museum of Art. GMOA 2020.22.
Rutstein made “Shimmer” after she joined UGA marine scientist Dr. Samantha Joye on a deep-sea expedition. She was inspired by the deep ocean and an animal called a siphonophore [sy-FON-uh-for] that lives there. A siphonophore has thin, clear tentacles that flash when it is disturbed. Rutstein created art inspired by the data the scientists were collecting. She wants people to love the ocean and the beauty there so we will help protect it.
“Shimmer” uses LED lights to capture the beauty of the natural world. Now it is your turn to use technology to make a flower that lights up.
You’ll need the following supplies included in the art kit (or found at home):
- coffee filter
- water-soluble markers
- water
- LED light
- coin cell battery
- clothespin
- floral wire
To make your LED circuit flower:
- Draw on the coffee filter with the markers.
- Drop or spray water onto the filter to make the colors spread.
- When the filter is dry, cut a small hole in the center.
- Put the clothespin tip through the hole.
- Place the short wire of the LED light on the grooved side of the coin cell battery and the long wire on the flat side of the battery.
- Clamp the wires to the battery with the clothespin.
- Wrap the filter in place around the clothespin using floral wire or tape.
TIP: If the LED light does not turn on, try shifting the wires to create a better connection.
View downloadable PDF for this activity
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Family Day art kits are sponsored by Lucy and Buddy Allen and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art.