12 Men (1974) by Mel Tanner
Whole & Its Parts
One of our first restoration projects after Dorothy Tanner passed in 2020 was the 12 Men by Mel Tanner. Some of them needed some repair, and we converted them all to LED from incandescent. They are now in the performance space ( we only have room for 8 ) and are an integral part of Lumonics Immersed. This is the first time they have been seen in Colorado as they had been in storage for many years.
One of the “men” didn’t show up for the photo session so only 11 are in the photo.
The 12 Men were in the original Lumonics Light and Sound Theatre in Miami. At the time, bio-feedback machines were getting recognized for testing whether one’s brain waves were in alpha, beta, theta, or delta, depending on what one’s thoughts were. Mel wanted to connect the 12 Men to a bio-feedback machine and the brightness of the sculptures would change depending on a person’s state. Somehow, we never went that far to connect them. But they were connected to a color organ and created some amazing patterns when music played. Today they are connected to an LED lighting controller and orchestrated live by Marc Billard from the control booth.
We are so happy the 12 Men are part of Lumonics Immersed.
