To his surprise, Stiles was shortlisted and won a grant to build a standalone, touch-sensitive electronic poster. The concept was to not only build a functioning piece that was larger and more complicated than anything he had previously tried, but also to have all the computing and power onboard. This piece wouldn't rely on an external computer for processing or energy. Stiles says the poster uses "a whole variety of different technologies in order to operate. It has a drum pad, an organ, and a variety of beats and loops that you can turn on and off with the touch of a finger. It was a beast to produce and never would have happened without Arrow Electronics footing the bill. It became an obsession of mine. For the Five Years Out Arrow Art Challenge, artist Dan Stiles took his experiments incorporating conductive inks and microprocessors into posters to the next level, moving all functionality onboard. It was certainly a challenge that turned into an obsession, even taking over Stiles' dining room table for a time. october/november 2017 11