Alana Balagot is a visual artist specializing in interactive and robotic kinetic sculpture. Her work explores the playful and uncanny spaces where machines become performers. Three of her sculptures are permanently installed at sp[a]ce gallery in Pasadena. Her past projects include robotic wearables and animated objects—from a robotic pumpkin to robotic angel wings. She also documents her process and experiments on her two YouTube channels: I Want to Make and her personal channel.
Portfolio of Work
Robotic Reflections
A kinetic sculpture built around an articulated hexagonal Hoberman mechanism inside an infinity mirror enclosure. A hidden linkage and stepper motor expand and contract the form, while dozens of LEDs illuminate a breathing, morphing tunnel of shifting depth. Wood, 3D-printed PLA, mirrors, glass, stepper motor, microcontroller, LED strips.
Four Muses
With Federico Tobon. Four Muses is a sculpture of four robotic instruments controlled by a keyboard interface with LED matrix display. The instruments (a xylophone, a drum, pipes, and a motor frequency instrument) can be played in four different modes from the keyboard: live play, pre-programmed songs, rhythm game, or sequencer.
Narcissus
Narcissus is an interactive installation comprising of 48 articulating mirrors controlled by 48 servo motors and a relay. A raspberry pi uses facial recognition to track faces and point the mirrors towards the viewer, creating a fragmented reflection. The mirrors can also animate in pre-programmed patterns or display animated text.
Poster VU
A giant wall-mounted VU meter housed in poster frames, with microphone and line-in audio, adjustable sensitivity, and brightness. Powered by an Arduino and NeoPixels, it translates sound into towering columns of light.
Contact
Alana can be reached at her firstname.lastname at gmail.com.
