all photographs by Stephen Allen

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Lipstick Enigma
with Franklyn Berry
for the Harris Engineering Center at the University of Central Florida, Orlando.
2010

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10.5'X18"X12.5" aluminum, electronics, resin, glass, language generating program written by Janet Zweig using software developed by Jon Meyer.

This computer-driven sentence-generator, using rules and lexicon written by the artist, invents and writes a new line of text, and displays it on the sign when triggered by a motion detector. The sentences mix the language of engineering with the language of beauty advertising.

The sculpture is made of 1200 resin lipsticks powered by 1200 stepper motors, controlled by 60 circuit boards.

Schematic design: Franklyn Berry
Project manager: Benjamin Cohen
Machinist/engineering: Stuart Heys
Electronic engineering: Todd Holoubek
Code: Jon Meyer
Project manager for UCF: Theo Lotz
On-site at UCF: Don Harper
Thanks to poet Jena Osman

A few things Lipstick Enigma has said recently:

New sprocket, new you.
Totally hot emissions!
Head-to-toe source code.
Defrag his confidence.
Bring out your inner widget.
Engineers tell all!
Allure is cartesian.
Vibrating powermascara!
Modemheads in nerdistan.
Say hello to his compiler.
Techies rule.
Pixelate her personality.
Set points you'll hunger for!
Motorize her vibrantly!
Statisticians in love.
Oscillating cheeks?
Dare to experiment!
Pair circuitry with taste.
Resisting distortion?
Hook up in the matrix.
This year's gamma!
Ecstasy is fissionable.
Hack into me mintily.
Quantify her trust.
Power-up your face.
Deluxe feminine monomers!
Lust is not electrical.
Love in the uncanny valley.
Torque his virtue.
Pair sonar with ego.
Reinvent yourself.
Can't live without input.
10 minutes to firmware.
Debounce my underarms.
Gadget fatigue!
Tired of solder?
Detox distasteful uplinks!





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