One of my favorite memories as a kid was to go to the Exploratorium.  The exhibit that I always wanted to see the most was the Enchanted Tree. It was pure magic. A tree covered in lights that responded to sound. When you clapped or shouted, light would surge from the trunk. It would race through the branches in a wave of sparkles. Yes, I love blinking lights!

The most fascinating moment happened when sound stopped. The lights didn’t just disappear. They paused. Then slowly traced upward. Each light moving with a deliberate rhythm. It was a kinetic performance triggered by my interaction.

I learned later the tree was created around 1971 by Burt Libe. (He also made a 32000 year clock for the Exploratorium.)

He was a computer pioneer and built computers using individual transistors before integrated circuits existed. He taught people how to create digital circuits through his Libe Bulletin newsletter.

Here is a link to his computer work: https://www.steampoweredradio.com/libe%20computer.html

Now I’m recreating the interactive experience of the Enchanted Tree. As a mixed media artist, I work with found materials and Arduinos. I’m building my own version with branches I harvested branches from our Arbutus ‘Marina’ street tree. It has a beautiful red bark.

The process is technical and precise. I’m installing eye pins and then running bus wires through them. Soldering programmable WS2812 LEDs is a bit tedious so I do 5 at a time. Then I solder them to the bus wires. I run it all with a five-volt power brick. One branch is fully wired. Two more are in progress and I have most of the eye pins installed.

My goal is more than reproduction. I want to create a responsive artwork. Most sound-triggered circuits have a static threshold which means that as the room gets louder, the lights will be on all the time. Mine will dynamically adjust to ambient sound. The lights will breathe. Respond. Interact.

I’m working on this project intermittently. A month of intense work, then rest. I plan to complete the installation by summer 2025. It’s more than a memory. It’s a living, breathing interaction between sound, light, and human presence.

This is art as a kinetic experience. Technology meeting creativity, an invitation to play. To make sound. To watch light dance.