CD Changer

I don’t know why I made this.

I mean, I do, sure. It’s a janky prototype of an idea that’s been sitting in my sketchbook for years, and a month ago I got fed up with it just being a sketch. So this is kind of a 3D sketch, really, using some ugly off-the-shelf parts.

I grew up in St Louis, and at the STL Art Museum there’s a great motorized sculpture by Rebecca Horn called Feather Wheel. It’s an elegant rotating circle of feathers. At a certain part in the rotation some feathers fall from the top to the bottom of the circle. It’s cooler in motion.

I was kind of fascinated by this artwork as a teen. Like: is this art? Are we sure? I mean, I love looking at it. Is that enough?

Anyway, a few years back I participated in a group project where we were tasked to build a window installation for a local record shop. I thought it would be cool to make a moving sculpture out of CD jewel cases, and coat the plastic in some reflective / dichroic film, and shoot light through it. (We ended up making a giant squid instead).

So I knew I wanted to make this. I knew it would be just a janky prototype. I think it fails its job as a prototype because it… doesn’t really help me visualize a nicer version? I don’t think I’m going to make a v2 here.

But it was really fun to MAKE. And that’s all I’m really looking for, I think.