The four Flux Calculator works reimagine what is one of the most commonly available pairing of photovoltaic and microchip technologies: the solar-powered calculator. A simple but strategic connection made to the circuit board of the calculator converts it into a sound-producing device sensitive to minute changes in light intensity.
These works are part of the Common Ancestor series, exploring the shared technological history of the photovoltaic panel and the integrated circuit (or microchip), both of which have their origins in semiconductor research conducted in the mid-twentieth century. A gulf now separates these two semiconductor schemes – so different in scale, function and complexity – however, these works attempt to bridge that gulf through modification, humour and a sensitivity to changing environmental factors.
Flux Calculators (Particulate Sunset and Foke & Smog), solar-powered desk calculators, cable, objects. Installation view, In Fields, 55 Sydenham Rd Marrickville NSW 2204 AU, Nov–Dec 2015.
For performances a short stint cranking a hand-powered LED torch provides sufficient energy to power a flux calculator. As the torch uses and therefore loses energy over time, it has to be moved closer and closer to the calculator’s solar cell in order to maintain function, producing audible changes indicative of the decreasing available energy and computing ability.
Venerable Aurora, flux calculator performance, ArtBar, MCA, Sydney, August 2015. Photos: Jenn Brewer.
Otherwise, performances use whatever light is available, and more or less randomly explore the parameters of light, sound and computation.
PETER BLAMEY 