What the hell is going on?

Bioluminescent algae and IV bags? I keep explaining what's been happening, assembling a system of IV bags and algae, but what the hell is really going on? What was the one post with moving cardboard panels? I'm not so sure I've made myself clear. Here is a quick abstract that explains our project, Exposure, and our intentions:

Rather than using solar cells to convert sunlight into electrical energy, we are concerned with using the power of the sun in a more direct way. Exposure is a biological, heliotropic lighting system powered by photosynthesis. Living inside the piece are several Dinoflagellates, Pyrocystis fusiformis, aka bioluminescent algae. The bioluminescence of the organisms are set to a biological clock quite similar to our sleep cycle. During 12 hours of daylight Pyrocystis use the available light to photosynthesize, producing their own food and oxygen. At sunset the cells produce the chemicals that cause the luminescent reaction. If agitated during their 12-hour dark cycle, the algae give off a glowing blue light. In Exposure we have harvested several bioluminescent algae organisms, and embedded them into an architectural array. Within the array, varying panel heights correspond to the density of algae organisms contained in each unit. Infrared sensors located below the panels detect human presence, and trigger a motor. Attached to the motors, a cam makes contact with the panels creating enough motion to agitate the algae and expose their bioluminescent glow.

We've seen the algae and the IV bags... below are some digital images that show the overall form, eventually to be made out of acrylic via CNC routing.

We began with a single profile. Using several panels with slight variation creates a voluminous form. The rigidity of the single panels stifled the potential movement within the array. In order to loosen it up, we added a second profile.

Hanging the lower panel from the upper, when one swings, so does the other. The hope is that the movement among the panels will be enough to agitate the algae living in the IV bags embedded within the acrylic array. The blue in the image below represents the introduction of the algae organisms into the form.

Other than the testing on cardboard, the movement of the actual pieces was not tested before installation. Unfortunately, there were unforeseen delays with routing, and coding and motors weren't communicating.