On Friday, February 7, Ginger Leigh, an interactive audiovisual experience designer, came to campus to give a lecture on her work. Leigh, who also goes by Synthestruct, combines her love for coding, math, science, psychology, and art to create interactive experiences all around the world. 

Her work has been presented at multiple notable venues including Ars Electronica Center in Linz, Austria, and the Sónar Festival in Barcelona, Spain. While Leigh’s work is visually oriented and creative, she does not identify as an artist. She said, “While the output is creative, what I really enjoy is exploring the science and technology in the background. Everything that I do is an excuse to explore how and why things work.”

Leigh found her passion for creating interactive experiences when she was a DJ. She was able to control the music and the atmosphere which allowed her to create different environments for her listeners. This same idea is what goes behind most of Leigh’s installations today.

Leigh has created many installations where the viewer can fully immerse themselves into the art. For example, in one of her installations, viewers had to wear headsets that measured their brainwaves. The pattern of their brain waves directly affected the patterns of visuals they saw on the screen in front of them. 

Another main focus for Leigh is the study of cymatics, which is the physical visualization of sound. Many of Leigh’s installations are presented in planetariums so the experience can seem 3-D and immersive for viewers. Incorporating cymatics into her work has created what many viewers have described as a hypnotic experience. Her visuals when accompanied with an upbeat song might be fast, sharp, and have almost a strobing effect. While a slower song might include visuals that are more round, slow moving, and dull. 

For Leigh, her work is all about being able to create an experience for people that is meaningful in some way. She said that while it is very hard work, she prides herself on her work being completely her own and being an independent creator.

 Leigh has a permanent installation at the Orlando Science Center, as well as a website, www.synthestruct.com, where she showcases all of her work and upcoming events.