Durham, NC

FloridaRAMA Project
Wall of Eyes, CNC routed MDF, laser cut acrylic, Adafruit Neopixels, microcontroller
Eyes in the Rough, 3D printed plastic, spy camera, RC servo motors, microcontroller

Wall of Eyes is a 24’ lightbox installation activated by the presence of a viewer. The lightboxes feature silhouettes of glowing eyes belonging to six animal species who make their home in the Florida Everglades: the American alligator, Roseate spoonbill, tree snail, Florida panther, giant land crab and the opossum. When a viewer passes by, Wall of Eyes lights up, sending the visitor into a mystical, multicolored environment. Wall of Eyes is installed by the motel pool. Eyes in the Rough is a set of three animatronic eyeballs that peek out at visitors from the tall cat grass lining the Everglades Arena. The eyes of the tree snail, Florida panther and American alligator track movement through a motion sensing camera hidden in each sculpture. As visitors walk by, they may feel like something is watching them… because it is!

Bio—
Artist and engineer Bec Conrad holds a MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Hampshire. She was a consulting technologist for Tellart LLC, who received the 2016 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Interaction Design. In collaboration with Tellart, Bec designed and manufactured several robotic interactive elements of Toyota’s Concept-i, the highest fidelity prototype car ever created. Her portfolio of engineering jobs includes: building robots to neutralize underwater explosives, programming arena-scale animatronic dragons for Dreamworks and supporting an FDA-approved wheelchair that climbs up stairs. Bec’s artwork examines kinetic expressions of robots and questions human relationships with technology. Bec has exhibited artwork nationally and internationally, including at Flux Factory, NY and the International Symposium on Electronic Art, Vancouver.