Engineering Mary Tsiongas

Exhibited at:
The ForSite Foundation (in the Sierra's) Spring 2003
Lincoln Center, New York, August 28, 2003
Aviary - Lincoln Center

Mary's work deals with nature and has a recurrent theme of bringing "inside out" and "outside in". In this case her piece consists of several wood posts like the markers seen in state parks. Each post has an image of a persons face on the front, and a solar panel on the top. The solar panel operates a circuit that reproduces the sound of the depicted person whistling a bird sound. The sound is triggered by a shadow falling on the post.

	The circuit that I designed is attached to a cell phone battery that powers the circuit for brief periods while the solar panel is shaded. The speaker and shadow sensing photo cell are wired directly to this simple circuit. Red and black wires connect to the solar panel.
	I built a special chip recorder so that Mary could record the sound chips herself.
	Mary began the project by sending me a concept drawing for the post, and a site concept rendering for the original installation site in the Sierra mountains of California
	I recommended that the posts be made of white oak which is sturdy and withstands weather quite well. I made the first 2 posts for her as hollow boxes with a shelf inside for the electronics, and holes for the speaker and light sensor. A local wood worker made the rest for her.

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