Critical Objects - Professor Pedro Oliveira

The American Dream

created with Inez Lucas @ mariaineslucas.com

The full installation at the ITP winter show: a white pedestal tagged with dripping black graffiti reading The American Dream, a crumpled balloon on top, and a bicycle pump standing in front

American Dream is an interactive inflatable sculpture about labor. A user interacts with the piece via a bicycle pump. Air is seen to inflate a scrunched up balloon. As it inflates, a red house is made visible by its expanding form. After or during its inflation, a loud vacuum pump removes the air, returning the balloon to its initial compressed state.

We began by deciding to create a piece which confronts the Sisyphean task of labor

Conceptual Sketch breadboard version

I first designed the pneumatic control circuit, laying it out on a breadboard. It's simple, I have a microcontroller reading an air pressure sensor over I2C and a transistor which flips 24v power to a high volume vacuum pump.

pneumatic circuit

A lot of pumps are high pressure, but I specifically needed one with high volumetric flow rate, as the balloon's size needed to be reduced dramatically. I designed the pneumatic circuit around 1/2in NPT three way junctions which allowed me to interface between different tube diameters for the input line, the sensor, and the pump.

After successfully testing the electropneumatics, I moved my circuit to a protoboard

Protoboarded electronics with voltage converter

I positioned the pump as close to the balloon opening as possible to diminish headloss and tube collapse from the application of its pressure. This assembly is mounted directly to the top panel of the pedestal, the balloon modified with an intake tube goes through the hole on the bottom, the pedestal's top, and the air in line comes in at the bottom.

Pump and motor assembly mounted on wood board

We experimented with and showed a version with tied leather ribbons and my handwriting for showing it in class, the ribbons were distracting and the writing did not match my vision.

Leather ribbons and my handwriting

The form however, was successful in positioning the user's body. Using a bike pump is frustrating, and positioning the balloon at a height forces the user to crane their head back to observe their progress.

User using the piece

I got a new box made with 3/4in wood and painted it white. Then I had my good friend Nate Aldridge, a talented writer, tag it with an inky brush. I said, please make it drip and please make it wrap around the corner.

We showed the piece at the ITP winter show 2025. Here is Matt Blanko as the User.

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