controlling 120V lights with Arduino?

[holy_cowminator]

Hi everyone. I am trying to help a friend with an art project, and I need to set up 10 32W fluorescent bulbs and a string of rope lights that will use roughly 600 watts of power. I need the lights to light up in different arrangements depending on what button is pressed. All the lights will be on, and when a button is pressed, all the lights except 3 particular lights linked to that button will stay lit. Can I do this with an Arduino?

If I bought 12V lights and rope lights, could I use an Arduino?

If not, does anyone have any suggestions on how?

Thank you!

[adafruit_support_bill]

An Arduino with some power-switch-tails could do the job: http://www.adafruit.com/products/268

[richms]

Hard starting fluros all the time will be hard on the tubes and starters and not look very nice (unless the flickering and flashing is part of the look they are going for?)

I would be looking at getting some ballasts which support dimming, the analog ones have a 0-10v input that controls the brightness, you can just leave the mains connected to them all and use the input to control them. just be aware that not all of them will go to off with 0v applied, some will be at minimum brightness which can be as high as 10%. They have internal pullups so they are at full brightness with nothing connected so you just need a transistor across them to pull it down to make the light go dim/off.

Otherwise you can start looking into DMX control, that is an option on some I have seen