frequency of intention (2009-2019)
Providence, RI
Frequency of Intention
Aluminum foil, Arduino Duemilanove (a single-board micro controller computer chip,) conductive carbon and silver paint, power adapter, speakers and wires on canvas, 65” x 28”, 2009
This series explores the relationship between energy, vibration, and the body’s capacity to influence perception through intention. Rather than treating intention as a measurable force, the work approaches it as a form of attention—an act that subtly alters how we encounter the physical world.
All matter carries vibration—plants, minerals, and the human body alike. The work does not attempt to quantify these frequencies, but to render them perceptible. What appears static begins to shift through proximity, focus, and engagement, placing the viewer within a feedback loop between sensing and being sensed.
Since 2009, I have incorporated Arduino as a way to extend painting beyond the visual field, creating a dialogue between sound, electricity, and perception. Influenced by Isaac Newton’s proposal of correspondences between color and musical tones, as well as Goethe’s Theory of Colour, the work draws on the possibility that one sensory input may trigger another.
Using conductive paint, the surface registers the presence of the viewer through their electrical charge. When activated, a programmed sound—A♭–C♯—is emitted, referencing the opening chord of Olivier Messiaen’s Prélude. Messiaen’s exploration of color–sound relationships informs the structure of the work, where composition unfolds across both auditory and visual registers.
The painting functions as an interface: not a fixed image, but a responsive system in which perception, intention, and material remain in continuous exchange.
