I took inspiration from the coding exercise yesterday and wanted to explore more about the themes of the color yellow. Recently, I saw “Crazy Rich Asian” and it was Hollywood’s first movie in 25 years with an all Asian cast. Director Jon M. Chu released a heartfelt letter he wrote to the band, Coldplay, to ask for permission to use their song, “Yellow” in the upcoming film. It was a beautiful song that represented ways in which Asian Americans can reclaim this racial slur.

Even before the release of “Crazy Rich Asians,” it was one of my favorite songs. I always felt as if the song in many ways, celebrated my identity and my skin color.

I was inspired to challenge myself to use Arduino to create a row of lights that will light up to the beat of the song. I needed to get Arduino and Processing to communicate the beats of the song and translate it into input for my LEDs. Unfortunately, because I am very new to coding, I couldn’t get my code to work after working after trying for a few hours.

 

Attempt:

Eventually, I want to use this prototype to create an installation of LEDs light in a dark room with mirrors lighting up to the beat of the song. It is meant to mimic the feeling of eternity and continuity inspired by Yayoi Kusama’s “Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity.” However, I will wait until I have enough technical skills to realize this feat.

Inspiration: 

Source: Photo by Shirley Leung

Description: Yayoi Kusama’s “Aftermath of Obliteration of Eternity” at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.