Conditional Presence is an interactive light sculpture composed of three large translucent branches rising from a triangular pedestal. Once complete, it will respond to people nearby, sending waves of color through the structure that intensify when multiple people are present at the same time. The title points toward the ways our presence and absence shape one another, made visible through shifting light and interaction.

The most difficult hurdle has been the power system: an intricate network of wiring, protective circuits, and custom boards built to deliver stable voltage to hundreds of LEDs across the branches. Despite extensive preparation, last-minute electrical issues prevented the piece from being lit for this show, leaving it in its unlit state as both a record of its construction and a placeholder for its full realization.

When active, each branch of the sculpture maintains a primary color — red, green, or blue — linked to the presence of a single viewer. With one person, a single branch pulses steadily, establishing the base tone of interaction. A second participant triggers a second branch, their overlapping signals creating new gradients where the colors meet. With three people present, all branches illuminate, and the full RGB spectrum comes alive as their signals cross-mingle. The intensity and complexity of the light effects grow with each added presence, underscoring how individual contributions combine to form something more layered and communal.

A mesh map is a digital model that plots the exact position of every LED within the sculpture’s three branches. It serves as a spatial guide, allowing programmed light effects to move across the structure as if it were a single connected form. By using the map, waves, gradients, and color shifts can be orchestrated to flow not only along individual strips but also across branches, creating patterns that occupy the sculpture as a whole.