When asked, Akimitsu Sadoi defined the concept of “ingenuity” as “the basis or answer or solution to the creativity. You need to be able to come up with the solution, it’s the word that describes times that can come up with the solution.” Sadoi is just one of close to forty artists exhibiting work at the 2013 IngenuityFest.
A Hiroshima native, Sadoi has been living in Brooklyn, NY for the past 23 years. As a child he became obsessed with electronics, and in particular lights. An LED light caught his attention on a radio as a power indicator light as a young student in elementary school. Since LEDs were expensive at the time, he would buy a few at local stores and begin to experiment with them. However, in recent years as LEDs have be come more affordable, he has started to do a lot more experimentation with programming LEDs.
Consistent with the 2013 theme of “clouds,” Sadoi’s piece, Rain Fall, is a large array of approximately 50 straight lined LED bars. Each bar consists of 50 or more LEDs programmed to create a rapid, smooth, downward motion of light, much like rain drops. The motion of light also represents movement of information, from one person to another, or through networks. The entire array is controlled to display something meaningful, while sometimes showing seemingly random patterns. This reminds the viewer of the natural world, where seemingly random and chaotic scenes are generated from organized sets of rules.
Although this is Sadoi’s first time collaborating with Ingenuity, the atypical venue is a challenge he welcomes. He believes, “It’s good to start with some place completely raw. You get to really mold the whole environment. Not just your piece.”
Read about one of Aki’s project in Make: Link