Regal Peacock

2019
Kinetic Design and Activation, Electronics Design, Programming
Client – Pineapple Design Studio

Created by Pineapple Design Studio and Chimera Atelier for Vivid Sydney 2019, Regal Peacock is a larger-than-life kinetic peacock light sculpture. The piece draws attention through a combination of origami and layering techniques applied to hand illustrated and cut digitally printed polypropylene sheet, and then wows its audience by unfurling its kinetic tail.

For this piece I designed, prototyped, and co-developed the kinetic tail mechanism alongside Chimera Atelier. Lighting technologies were specified by the artists, for which I designed a complete wiring plan for (inclusive of the kinetic elements). To complete the piece, I designed and programmed a synchronised motion and lighting animation show to be run on a custom controller. This included provisions for pre-show auto-calibration of the kinetic system, and post-show pose holding to minimise risk of damage cause by environmental factors between showings and to allow an attendant to quickly secure the tail in the event of extreme wind.