Pinscreen Demonstration
The Pinscreen is an installation whereby an array of pins
pass through two perfectly identical perforated panels which,
held vertically, allow the viewer to make an impression in the
pins by pushing their hand/face/etc. into the array. For the first time, an architectural-scale Pinscreen is a viable application, both technologically and economically. Initially, hand-held and desktop versions were limited in size by the sheer weight of the metal pins, and the glass/plexi cover necessary to keep the pins in place. The development of lightweight, luminescent polymer pins gave rise to new possibilities in Pinscreen size and design, and prompted Fleming to experiment until he developed a method by which the plastic pins can have a second head created after insertion in the perforated metal plate (thus eliminating the need for the protective cover). The new generation Pinscreen allows raised and sunken relief impressions to exist simultaneously in a single field, and the interplay of light and shadow in the luminescent pins yields a heightened photo-reality to the images one can create. Public and residential applications are numerous, from ever-changing luminaires to entire walls of impressionable and easily-erasable panels mounted to spin on a central axis. Pinscreen panels can now be created in any combination of dimensions, and mounted in myriad ways including: freestanding displays of metal, wood or glass; inter-wall installations (accessible from either side); and folding partition screens, or as seen here, a panel.