Disco Ball for the New Millennium, AKA Caustic Virus

Old house windows are used to construct an icosahedron shape. Each window frame, besides being altered in shape, is subjected to one major stress point on the glass itself via the pointing system used to hold the glass in the frame. As the icosahedron rotates slowly on a disco ball motor, a cinematic effect plays out on the vintage projector screens that line the periphery of the room. The phenomenon of caustic curve reflection (here seen as the projection of light reflected off the curved glass onto the screens) visualizes the stress points as they roll by on the screens.

Disco Ball for the New Millennium constructs a link between stress in human lives and bodies, and the subtle – yet potentially pane-snapping – application of pressure onto glass. The parallel between the unseen accumulation of stress in our bodies and the invisible activity of the stressed glass highlights a seemingly hideous reality that can, at moments, bring us to points of resolute clarity and beauty.