coming soon for 2026
THE GLORB ORGAN
Imagine living organ pipes — that play light instead of sound. Tall stalks with kelp-like bladders glow and pulse in response to music, controlled by festivalgoers through three separate consoles. But this is no solo entertainment: each console is positioned far enough from the others that it takes three people working in concert to bring the organ to its fullest expression. Discovering what it can do together, by design, turns strangers into collaborators.
The Glorb Organ develops the cosmic ecology first explored in The Flowers of Invention. Glorb stalks are best understood as something like coral: mineral in structure, but with emerging sentience. These organisms appear only where vibrations are high, the music is powerful, and the human rhythms of dance and joy create the conditions for interstellar-earthly biological collaboration. The story this installation tells is specific: this particular species has learned to scavenge and repurpose human technologies — 1970s organ levers, space shuttle panel instruments, a ship's wheel — in order to facilitate contact and learning. The curious are rewarded with knobs to twist, levers to test, and switches to throw, each affecting the light patterns of the organ in its own way.
Prototype session photo & informal interview explaining the user experience, and why it's sick. We used a random synthesizer as a MIDI box just to test the mapping of various light parameters to knobs & buttons.
The Glorb Organ will be part of the 2026 Bombyx × Look Park collaboration in Northampton, Massachusetts, and the Scarboro Bowl festival in Belchertown, Massachusetts. The full organ — or any subset of individual stalks — is available for touring beginning late May 2026. As a stage complement to live performance, it accepts MIDI triggers for synchronized lighting effects via Art-Net/sACN. As a standalone installation, the consoles communicate wirelessly and most lighting effects run on WLED via ESP32s on a dedicated LAN. An optional hula-hoop controller equipped with a 9-axis IMU translates a performer's movement — tilt, spin, and acceleration — into real-time lighting across the full installation. Hand it to a flow artist and watch what happens.
The Flowers of Invention as set design at 2025 Look Park performances of Young at Heart with Norma Dream.
Power draw varies by stalk count but is easily managed through a star topology to a fused central supply. The system runs entirely on 12V DC. Wind loading and ground anchoring are calculated per site and adapted to variable surfaces. The installation is fully weatherproof, modular, and designed for one-hour physical setup once ground anchors are set. Full schematics and technical riders available upon request.
Contact: Marisa Egerstrom
tenderfirestudio@gmail.com