A tiny digital art exhibit - our entry for The Great Big Art Exhibition.

I wanted to see if we could make a tiny digital art exhibit in a storage tub. Made for fun and The Great Big Art Exhibition .

Play

Behind the scenes - Raspberry Pi, Webcam, old monitor

Tub without the wooden front

Early cardboard mockup

Jennie’s tiny popcorn! (very stale mind)

What the screen sees

Jennie having a go

Taking a selfie with the fire escape is a tricky business

Daddy Box Head

Fire escape door close up

Blurb

It’s a thing that makes your reflection wonky in a box strapped to a wheelie bin. Think Hall of mirrors, but in a short hall with one mirror!

The national lockdown with local exercise only has meant a lot of people are now walking past our house. So I thought it’d be nice to join in the window art fun with a digital doodah.

It needs to be outside for people to see it, so I thought it best to build it all in a waterproof tub.

I wanted it to be self contained as if it’s a real gallery exhibit rather then just a screen connected to a computer inside. So everything runs off a Raspberry Pi which is connected to an old monitor and webcam. One single power lead is all that comes into the house.

Notes to self

• A webcam and screen behind glass picks up the screen’s reflection unless the glass in on a 45° angle.
• Varnish takes ages - [FUTURE CHRIS] try spray paint first for the wood next time.
• Old Star Wars figures make perfect model viewers, even if they don’t have knees (Jennie made little foot stools for them).
• You can print on Shrinky Dinks to make tiny pictures, but it darkens the image so would be good to brighten the images first next time.
• Raspberry Pi 4’s get very hot, but the heat-sink cases are super cool!
• CNC cut lettering makes everything look better 🤔