Cosmic Cacti, is a series of interactive cactus plasma sculptures. Each hollow glass sculpture is be filled with various luminous gases that follow your finger as you make contact. Neon, nitrogen, xenon, krypton, and argon gases have different qualities including movements, colors, and reactions, enabling me to create a variety of effects from a nebulous glow to tendrils of light. I created a small-scale cacti garden with variations of saguaro, euphorbias and imagined dessert plants aligning with Element 11's theme, Cosmic Garden. The glass cacti garden will be visible during daylight. At night they will illuminate as people walk by with motion sensor activation.

This shows a progressive series of experimental sculptures that increase in scale and electrical complexity. The smaller cactus garden illuminates by proximity of an electrical field produced by a capacitive base. The larger sculpture has been outfitted to function in the Utah West Desert, with a self-contained power supply. The sculpture operates under programmed sensors to limit overheating and has a light sensors that detects when the sun goes down so it operates from dusk until dawn.

 

photographs by Samuel Jake 

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