Ruben’s Tubes built for two shows at Bemis Center for Contemporary Art

Four dancing audio-reactive tubes of fire built for musical performances at two interactive dinner parties created by sensory experience artist Emilie Baltz at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art. Servers roasted marshmallows and skewers of meat and vegetables for the guests to eat.

At the first performance, live audio signals from instruments played by musician Dereck Higgins and drummer Mark Powers were played through small speakers directly attached to each tube, causing the flames to dance in response to the air pressure changes of the sound. At the second performance it was discovered that the sheer sound pressure created by Mark's unamplified cajon alone was enough to make the fire dance, so the speakers were turned off.