Woven Threads (Stepping Through Time)

Punch cards were originally developed by Basile Bouchon in 1725 to control the operation of his mechanical loom.  This mechanism allowed him to precisely guide the sequence of threads which formed the fabric being produced.  This technique of processing information on a time-step basis led directly to the development of the digital computer (which also initially used Bouchon's punch cards to store data and programs) and then to development of Roland's TB-303 and TR-606 audio sequencers (which store the time-step information in their internal RAM chips).  In an unexpected turn of events, these two sequencers powered a revolution in dance music in the mid-1980s with their role in the creation of Acid House.  What started as a way to weave threads into patterns in fabric evolved over two centuries later into a way to weave beats through an ecstatic crowd, controlling their moods and movements like the threads in a loom.  From functional tool to soul-expanding artform to the eventual awakening and self-actualization of the technology itself, this is the journey of computation through time.

This piece features the classic Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX released in 1999 on the Playstation.  The piece comes with the DDR dance pad so you can step back in time and rave like it's the 90s.
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22"x25"x5"
8 layers of aluminum composite paneling, 19" IPS panel, PS1 emulator, Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMIX ROM, wireless controller, USB dance pad
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