Hippy Grand Prix

During a project for a client I ended up with dozens of polycarbonate offcuts, about 3/4" by 3/8" and many rolls of addressable LEDs. I quickly got the idea of bolting these together to create site specific light sculptures up to 40m long.

The first iteration in 2017 was at a event in the woods north of Toronto, it used the very first teensy based LED controller I designed and was controlled via Freeliner. Seeing it light up for the first time was truly exctatic.

Second iteration was inside my studio. In the following video we can see the sculpting process.

For the third iteration at a small event called BS1, using the LEDriver controller (link) with the embeded generative animation library Shadel(link) I made a small installation that could be controlled via a midi-usb controller to create differente moods.

V2-HD

Since the first iteration, and subsequent namesake, some sort of racing experience was to be created. In 2022 with the help of my collabporator Zap, we put together Hippy Grand Prix - V2HD. We sourced some electronic throttled pedals and created a 2 player absratact racing experience with twice the amount of LED per meter. It was installed at L'Osstidburn 2022 on a cluster of stream overhanging a stream.

And it all started by repurposing plastic that was going to end up in the trash.