Gallerybright is the Galerydrive lighting system. When we will set up our drive-through-exhibitions, we will have to design the whole floor, we will set up walls and installations, so we will redesign almost the whole gallery space. I think, that it is just consequent, to care about the ceilings as well. And if I think about what to do for the ceilings, it is quite obvious, to set up lights, there.

So, I designed a lighting system, which had to fulfill the following practical constraints:

- It has to have the same look as the installations. (And because we don't have any installations, yet, I've also built them to establish that look.)

- It has to be bright.

- It has to be cheap. (The overall costs for the first prototype were slightly under 100 Euros. And because of the use of flourescent tubes, there's a lot of light at minimal energy costs.)

- We should be able to build the lamps fast. (There might happen situations, where we quickly need some more light. It took me one day to build the first one. And I guess, it will take me just half a day for the next.)

- The lighting system has to be easy to transport and to store. So, there must be a way to assemble and disassemble it quickly.

Let's have a look at the first prototype:

Closeups of the folding mechanism in the center:

The image below shows the folded lamp. It takes about ten seconds, to get it from an overall width of almost four metres to that size. If I would have spent another ten minutes, I could disassemble it completely and it would be even a lot smaller than this. So, this lamp fulfills the last constraint quite well.

And if you wonder, why I care about the light of the exhibition, while the first wheelchair isn't finished yet, and while none of us have started to build the first artwork for the exhibition, ... well, the reason is simple:

Aram Bartholl visited me, to build the 230V light control for his project "Speed" (www.datenform.de/speedeng.html). And because I knew, that it wouldn't be quiet enough for me to work on the wheelchair programs, while he also works in my shop, I decided to build some 230V light stuff as well.

The next picture shows Aram with his controller suitcase:

And here are closeups of his suitcase. Inside, there is a PC transformer, and a PIC microcontroller. This controller switches six 230V sockets via thyristors. There is a poti under the handle, with which he can adjust the switching speed. The finished suitcase is a nice little gadget, which he will use to trigger the lamps for his installation, but it can also be used as a light organ controller for parties. Don't miss the video where you can see the suitcase in action!

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