The Refractory

First off, I know that the word refractory has other meanings, some of which I was completely unaware, but I think it's a name worth at least prototyping. I'm not usually a huge fan of portmanteaus, but this combination of refraction and factory makes me smile, perhaps because of the fact that the word already exists.

Anywho, this exhibit is meant as an open exploration into the effects of shining lasers into clear objects and seeing how the light reflects, refracts, and diffuses to create fun and sometimes unexpected results. For example, I was pleasantly surprised to see the effect in the video above, that I relate to fish jumping out of water.

I just brought my own red laser, but I really liked the brighter green one and the color of the purple one that Alex brought in. I got back and ordered some more lasers for myself, but I don't think I'll have them for this Friday.

I'd like to build a table for this. I'm thinking a simple geometric shape like a triangle, square or hexagon, where different colored lasers can be mounted along the perimeter in a way that they can be aimed towards the center. In the center of the table, there are a bunch of different acrylic shapes that can be moved around to experiment and play with how the light shines through at different angles.

I imagine a group of kids coming up to this table and saying "wow" and then moving the blocks around and pushing towards the front so they can control the laser. People can make up ways of moving the light around objects. Maybe I could throw in a couple of opaque parts just to mix things up. There can also be cooperative interactions to combine the lasers into different colors, maybe even splitting portions of some of the lasers away so that the more powerful lights don't overtake the spectrum.