Porta is an interactive light installation that consists of 2 parts – each one having 7 frames and being a mirror version of each other. The frames are made of wood and supported by metal corner profiles, pinned into the ground. Every frame is equipped with an ultrasonic proximity sensor, a microcontroller and a series of integrated LED strips. The structures communicate using wide-area network modulation technique that operates on low frequency radio bands. A proximity sensor within the frame monitors the activity of moving objects underneath it and when triggered, sends the signal to it’s twin structure which then drives the behaviour of it’s lights and sounds.

When a subject walks through a frame on one side of the lake, the opposing one manifests the action by glowing in a different color and signifying a contact between the two. This event is enhanced with an aural soundscape which together with visual feedback creates a theatrical performance where every subject involved becomes both, an observer and a participant.

Porta (meaning an act of making accessible; a solemn opening, a gate) attempts to reflect on the pandemic and celebrates brighter days coming ahead. Having a visual link, yet not being able to reach physically. Feeling being close, yet being so far. These concepts were a big part of our communication in recent times and have forced us to change the way we converse. It proposes a different form of dialogue, a new shape of communication that instead of words contains actions, such as presence or absence of being. Together, these states construct intricate relations and produce varying results that are entirely dependent on the amount of participants at each installation.