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
Afterimage
A wall-mounted kinetic infinity mirror sculpture with four acrylic hoberman mechanisms controlled by a single motor and six pulleys. Pressing the button triggers the motor to animate the mechanisms in cycles, while the infinity mirror creates a tunnel of light that appears to stretch infinitely inward. White oak, acrylic, mirrored acrylic, stepper motor, microcontroller, LED lights. Part of MetaU gallery's "After The Human. After Technology." exhibit.
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.
