Tag Archives: Installations

This Interactive Snowglobe Clock Turns Time into a Snowy Spectacle for All to Admire

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There’s always a feeling of childlike curiosity watching snow fall. Whether it’s the first snow of the year or even the faux snow inside a snow globe, it’s always fascinating to watch those flakes descend from the skies in slow motion, covering everything you see in a layer of white dust. No matter how old you are, snowfall has the ability to fascinate you and a handful of designers from South Korea are banking on that reaction with their new clock. Dubbed ‘Time to Snow’, this timepiece uses snow-like grains of styrofoam to tell time. The grains are trapped within a rectangular cuboid and are agitated constantly to create a miniature blizzard inside the clock. Meanwhile, cleverly positioned components use static electricity to catch some of those styrofoam particles, allowing them literally defy gravity as they display the time of the day. The result is a clock that absolutely delights with its unique approach to timekeeping. Move over, snowglobes!

Designers: Baek Sunwoo, Kim Myeongseong, Prof. Lee Woohun

The clock is accompanied by a camera module on top that lets viewers interact with it through their presence and gestures. In the absence of any nearby individuals, the hardware generates a snowstorm to attract people from a distance. As someone approaches, the snowstorm gradually diminishes until it completely fades away. At this point, a brief yet intense blizzard is created and as the proverbial dust settles, it displays the time of the day. Viewers can then engage with the ‘snow’ particles in mid-air, using hand gestures to interact intuitively. With each interaction, the wind erases certain parts of the displayed numbers, only to reveal new numbers every minute. Once the viewers depart, the numbers melt away like snow, and the snowstorm reverts back to its original state.

The delicate polystyrene particles dance gracefully in the breeze, mirroring the mesmerizing chaos of a snowstorm. The numerical patterns formed by layering these Styrofoam grains produce a captivating three-dimensional illusion, imitating how snow accumulates on rooftops, windowsills, and other elements on an urban or suburban landscape. This enhances the immersive experience, transporting the viewer into a world of snowy wonder. The formation of the numbers by these particles quite literally defies the laws of physics, creating a sense of amazement and wonder that vastly enhances the time-telling experience. It follows the clever design practice of ‘form following emotion’, as it digs into what makes us curious as humans. The interactive element enhances the clock’s UX tenfold, allowing you to engage with the ‘snow’ while being indoors!

The Time to Snow is a Best of the Best Winner of the Red Dot Award: Design Concept for the year 2023.

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This Kinetic Sculpture Provides an Elegant Metaphorical Reflection on Environmental Impact through Dots

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Our contemporary lifestyles have undeniably left a negative mark on the environment. Despite the ongoing discussions and awareness campaigns, it seems that these efforts have failed to significantly influence the lifestyle choices of the masses. “The Dots,” an interactive installation by Jack Lee, serves as a metaphorical representation, showcasing the undeniable impact of human activities on the environment and its related issues. Through the fusion of kinetic art and technology, this captivating artwork offers a thought-provoking visual narrative that urges viewers to reflect upon their responsibility towards the environment.

Designer: JACK LEE

At the heart of “The Dots” installation are meticulously arranged polarised panels, cleverly designed to create mesmerizing visual effects through physical manipulation. By employing servo motors and sensors, the transparency of these panels dynamically adapts to the proximity of the viewer, revealing a captivating visual story. Jack Lee’s creation exemplifies the essence of his “Matters” project series, catalyzing contemplation and encouraging viewers to consider their impact on the environment.

Global environmental issues often appear too vast, abstract, and disconnected from individuals’ daily lives. While the public is generally aware of their existence, it is challenging to establish a personal connection with these issues. However, the power to shape the Earth’s environment, whether positively or negatively, lies within the hands of each individual.

The polarising film used in “The Dots” plays a pivotal role in creating its visual effects. This film is applied to both the surface of the panels and the viewer’s face shield, creating a unified polarised environment. Polarisation is a property of light that describes the direction in which its waves vibrate. The film is specially designed to filter and manipulate the polarisation of light passing through it.

As the panels rotate, the relative angle between the polarised film on the panels and the viewer’s face shield changes. This change in angle alters the transmission of light through the panels, affecting their transparency. When the polarization angles align, the panels become more transparent, allowing more light to pass through. Conversely, when the polarisation angles are misaligned, the panels appear darker and less transparent.

This dynamic interaction between the viewer’s perspective and the polarised panels creates captivating visual transformations, enhancing the immersive experience and reinforcing the connection between the viewer and the artwork.

The installation consists of seven precisely arranged circular panels, forming an intriguing hexagonal grid. Guided by servo motors controlled by an Arduino board integrated with an Ultrasonic distance sensor, each panel gracefully comes to life. The panels’ surfaces are coated with a delicate layer of polarised film, similar to the material used in a specially designed face shield that the audience wears.

As the panels elegantly rotate, a mesmerizing metamorphosis unfolds. The transparency of each panel dynamically shifts, influenced by the relative angle between the viewer’s glasses and the panels themselves. This captivating interplay between movement and perception creates a visual symphony, where the degree of rotation echoes the distance between the audience and the installation.

“The Dots” installation serves as a significant initiative toward environmental awareness, but there is room for further development. Currently, viewers require additional equipment like the viewer’s glasses to fully experience the installation. While this adds an extra effort that may deter some individuals, it is crucial to consider inclusivity and accessibility. Finding ways to make the experience more easily accessible can ensure a broader reach and engage even the “lazy” population who might otherwise prioritize ease over environmental concerns.

Looking into the future, “The Dots” holds immense potential for engaging and inspiring audiences in various settings. Beyond its current artistic context, the concept and technology employed in this work can be extended to broader applications.

In public spaces, such as museums or interactive exhibitions, “The Dots” can serve as an immersive experience that encourages public engagement and dialogue. By inviting viewers to reflect on their individual responsibility for the environment, the installation prompts discussions and actions toward a more sustainable future.

Moreover, the technology and techniques used in “The Dots” can inspire innovations in architectural design and urban planning. By integrating similar interactive elements into buildings and public spaces, it becomes possible to create dynamic environments that respond to human presence and encourage eco-friendly behaviors.

Overall, the future application of “The Dots” extends beyond its current art form, presenting opportunities for environmental education, public engagement, and sustainable design solutions. By harnessing the power of interactive technology art, this installation has the potential to contribute to a more conscious and environmentally responsible society. It reminds us that our individual actions, no matter how small, can make a difference in shaping a better future for our planet.

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SONY’s mesmerising audio visual exhibit in London Design Festival reacts to the users emotional state

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We’re living in a world where virtual and physical realities are slowly inching towards a seamless amalgam. The interaction between the two realities is making new experiences possible, be it roaming in Metaverse or extreme gaming with VR headsets.

Now Sony Design has created one such experience that alters the dynamic visual reality based on how the user is behaving or interacting with the installation. This mesmerizing play of color and light is currently on show at the London Design Festival 2022.

Designer: Sony Design

Dubbed the INTO SIGHT, this creation in partnership with the London Design Festival took our team by surprise. The installation plays on the sensorial effects that morph the simple boundary surfaces into a visual spectrum of shifting light and color. There are see-through walls and reflective surfaces on the floor and ceiling of the space which is a colossal 220-inch Crystal LED screen. This screen takes input like emotional responses or sudden movement to put forth a hypnotic array of colorful hues and matching audio.

The rectangle-shaped installation is inspired by the intriguing challenges of the decade. The final result is a combination of technologies for guests to reflect on their emotions, allowing them to pause and focus on themselves without distractions yet in an abstract style. According to Sony Design, the installation gives the users freedom to portray their stories in a unique way. After all, the core of our stories remains the same. What differs is the medium and the impact it leaves on our psyche.

The technology used for INTO SIGHT is the same as the one used for cinematography virtual production. This tech has brought refreshing changes in the film production industry and is on course to replace the green screen with a hyper-realistic virtual scenery courtesy of Sony’s Crystal LED display systems. The installation is only going to be displayed at the London Design Festival, so, if you are already intrigued by the prospect of it, there’s nothing better than experiencing it in person.

Credit: SONY PR

Credit: SONY PR

Credit: SONY PR

Credit: SONY PR

Credit: SONY PR

Credit: SONY PR

Credit: SONY PR

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350 paper planes were floated from The Guggenheim’s top floor calling for a no-fly zone over Ukraine

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On March 5, on a Saturday afternoon, a group of 15 artists and activists launched 350 paper planes from the top floor of The Guggenheim calling for a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Deployed during peak visiting hours, the 350 paper planes floated from the museum’s top floor to the ground, between floors brimming with people. As Russian forces invaded Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine had requested NATO to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine, but the request was rejected by NATO for fear of bringing more countries into the conflict since they would have to shoot down any Russian aircraft flying over Ukraine.

So far NATO, led by the United States, has announced it would not intervene by air or land, rejecting the possibility of taking on Russian forces. The paper planes that flew through the Guggenheim had a clear message for citizens of the world,

It reads, “This jet is made of paper. But what if it were steel and carried bombs over the heads of the ones you love? Right now, Russia is making deliberate efforts to blow up the largest nuclear plant in Europe in order to wipe out the Ukrainian population. This would give Putin control over Ukrainian land. But that is not the end. Russia wants to move its nuclear arsenal to the Ukrainian-Polish border and push its army further west. Putin has openly said this many times. This is no longer a local conflict. Act now to save the world. Ask president Biden to declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Protect the sky over Ukraine. Full embargo on Russia. Boycott Russian influence in cultural and political institutions.”

Upon entry to The Guggenheim, museum security guards barred two artists and activists from entering who were given the option to enter without the bag of flyers in tow. Artists Anton Varga, Bea Fremderman, V Pan, and Volk Lika were among the 15 organizers behind the act.

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Human behavior defines the layout of this elemental pavilion to bring visitors a unique spatial experience

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The Wood Pavilion #2 from LIN Architecture is the second installment to the studio’s Wood Pavilion, a timber structure with an interior layout that was defined by human behavior.

Just two months ago, LIN Architecture finished work on Wood Pavilion #1, an all-black meditative space designed to be ergonomic, where humans could give in to their most natural and instinctual behavior. Today, LIN Architecture is back with another wooden pavilion, which is aptly called Wood Pavilion #2. Coated in red paint, the Wood Pavilion #2 shares the same purpose as its predecessor and is located in the same neighborhood in China’s ​​Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province.

Designer: LIN Architecture

Designed as, “a spatial experiment on using small-scaled temporary buildings to stimulate the site,” the Wood Pavilion #2 features a series of unpaired windows and internal cavities that are meant to give visitors a unique, visual, and spatial experience.

Throughout the pavilion, the layered walls are intersected by various internal cavities that collect sunlight and offer views of the outdoors, prompting visitors to take a seat or wander through the structure like a labyrinth.

Covering only 50 sqm, the Wood Pavilion #2 finds space and height through an intricate layout that weaves together rooms like an entryway that only leads to a wall and elemental sitting space. The four walls that compose Wood Pavilion #2 have been washed with a red dye, emphasizing the pavilion’s primal lure. In designing the second generation Wood Pavilion, the architects at LIN Architecture took what they learned from the first pavilion and applied it to the second’s construction process.

“Based on previous theoretical research,” the architects at LIN suggest, Wood Pavilion #2 is “a prototype combining theory and practice: based on a human scale, each section of the pavilion is used to set different spaces to guide people and their interaction patterns.”

Firstly, Wood Pavilion #2 maintained a human-centered layout and then looked to proxemic, behaviorology, and ergonomics to further develop the structure’s pathways spatial personality. Finding harmony in the surrounding architecture and community, “Wooden Pavilion #2 not only creates a dialogue with the traditional architectural forms of the village but also serves the local residents who, in their leisure time, can communicate and enjoy the harmonious relationship between the architectural space and its surrounding nature.”

Curved seats provide spots for visitors to take in the views and bathe in the sunlight.

Before constructing the Wood Pavilion #2, architects with LIN studied the human behavior and patterns of the local community.

The Wood Pavilion #2 serves to harmonize with the local community’s preexisting architecture. 

While it appears monolithic for its labyrinth-like layout, Wood Pavilion #2 is sized to human-scale.

The timber cabin is entirely constructed from timber and interconnected with steel columns and screws.

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Serbian scientists install an urban photo-bioreactor to capture CO2 and produce O2 just like trees

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LIQUID3 is an outdoor, urban photo-bioreactor that uses microalgae to perform photosynthesis and remove the same amount of CO2 as two ten-year-old trees.

Sustainable design that confronts the effects of climate change comes in many forms. From bio-receptive concrete that grows moss on its own to vertical urban forests that redefine what organic architecture could look like, sustainable design is all around us and provides varying degrees of mitigation against the threat of climate change.

Designer: University of Belgrade

Designers find a unique challenge in creating sustainable infrastructure in urban areas, where green spaces are few and far between. Taking an atypical approach to climate change design, researchers at the University of Belgrade developed LIQUID3, an urban photo-bioreactor that’s used for CO2 fixation and O2 production.

Located in the capital city of Serbia, a photo-bioreactor is essentially a vessel that uses a light source, such as natural sunlight, to cultivate phototrophic microorganisms that produce biomass. Created and designed by the University of Belgrade’s Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, LIQUID3 is a photo-bioreactor teeming with microalgae to sequester carbon and perform photosynthesis to produce oxygen.

Each LIQUID3 vessel carries a total of 600 liters of water, allowing the photo-bioreactor to remove analogous amounts of carbon dioxide as two 10-year-old trees or 200 square meters of green space. Operable even during the cold months of Belgrade’s winters, LIQUID3 only requires a light source for the naturally photosynthesizing microalgae to execute the same carbon-capturing role as trees in urban spaces that typically lack green spaces.

Awarded with Green Product Award’s Green Concept Award for 2022, LIQUID3 has been recognized for its innovative approach to green, bio-reactive design. Besides its appeal to sustainable design, LIQUID3 also suggests an efficient use of public land, while creating space for interactive ads and a high-value fertilizer. Its location in such a dense area of Belgrade also encourages city residents to become more aware of climate change’s threat to urban areas.

Configured like small urban meeting spaces, the LIQUID3 stations could be outfitted with outlets for city residents to charge their devices.

Come dark, LIQUID3 transforms into a neon-green light to guide residents through the streets.

An integrated bench space turns LIQUID3 into a social hub for city residents to gather and feel encouraged to keep fighting climate change.

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These mirrored visitor centers were built in harmony with a 13th-century castle to reflect the castle grounds

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Buda Castle’s new visitor centers and Infopoints, accessory buildings to Hungary’s Buda Castle grounds, are entirely clad in reflective material, immersing visitors in the grounds’ natural surroundings.

No one can say what a modern accessory building should look like when they’re built for 13th-century castles. There’s a fine line between an accessory building that looks in harmony with its larger residence and one that resembles it a little too closely, only to repeat the same note.

Deisgners: BLOKK & Hello Wood

Up to the task, architecture studios BLOKK and Hello Wood collaborated to design new visitor centers and information hubs called Infopoints for Buda Castle’s grounds in Budapest, Hungary. Taking a blank canvas to its most extreme end, BLOKK and Hello Wood struck harmony through mirror-cladding and simple, geometric silhouettes to pay homage to Buda Castle without stealing the show.

Buda Castle, the first royal residence on Castle Hill, was built between the years 1247 and 1265 by King Béla IV of Hungary. Throughout the years, Buda Castle underwent several reconstruction phases including one following the Siege of Buda in 1686 and one following the castle’s occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II. Considering the castle’s textured history, modern architecture studios, BLOKK and Hello Wood had to get creative.

Located near the Palace of the Buda Castle, in its Palace District, the visitor centers and Infopoints each roughly cover 30-square-meters and fit in with their surroundings by responding to them. Looking to the castle’s shape for inspiration, the visitor center’s architects found unity through a cuboid body and a high-pitched roof, similar to the castle’s. Then, the Infopoint, which functions as the castle ground’s information desk and souvenir shop, keeps a cuboid shape without the pitched roof, similar to a street vendor’s pop-up shop.

Constructed atop four steel-framed modules, which were lifted into place by a crane, the buildings are easy to assemble and transport. The visitor center’s and Infopoint’s mirror-cladding was chosen for its modern appeal and subtle reflection of its surroundings.

The Hello Wood team describes the choice behind the structures’ mirror-cladding, “Aiming for a booth that stays low-key in the atmosphere of the Buda Castle resulted in the use of reflective, glassy material and an almost perfect cube. Not even a visible door handle, the so-called Mirror Pavilions look natural in the setting of this historic place.”

While the two different structures keep different silhouettes, the outdoor cladding and interior paneling remain congruent. In contrast to the cold, metallic feel of the exterior mirror-cladding, the interior walls of each structure find warmth and brightness with natural pine plywood paneling. Then, an overhead skylight drenches the indoor spaces with natural light, emphasizing the structure’s homogeneous appearance.

An internal skylight brightens the Infopoints’ natural pine plywood paneling and creates a warm retreat in contrast to the cold, reflective exterior. 

The architects at BLOKK and Hello Wood found harmony between the Buda Castle and the Infopoint structures by keeping the accessory building’s shape similar to the castle’s.  

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An enigmatic cloud floats above Tokyo streets in this mesmerizing art installation concept

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Clouds are supposed to be ephemeral, gentle, and dreamy, but an art installation wants to literally bring those lofty concepts down to the ground in a way that boggles the eyes and the mind.

The “cloud” has long been the buzzword in tech, at least before the “metaverse” came to unseat it. Just as amorphous as its namesake, this cloud virtually looms over every facet of modern life, from our houses to our offices to even the streets we walk on. Clouds are intangible by nature, but one designer wants to turn clouds into something we can see and even touch, provoking our senses and our minds with a structure that looks both heavenly from a distance yet also a bit unnerving up close.

Designer: Vincent Leroy

It is almost fortuitous that its designer would call this tangible cloud a “Metacloud,” though it has little to do with the much-hyped metaverse. True to the original meaning of the phrase, this cloud is both a cloud and not at the same time. Made up of thin curved blades, the cloud-shaped sculpture would levitate over streets, flying low enough to be touched, unlike a real cloud.

The Metacloud seems to be built on a series of opposites, looking light and airy yet tangible and confining. It hovers ever so slightly above the ground, moving freely yet unable to break free of the pull of reality. The moire pattern is both enchanting and dizzying, playing with our perceptions as well as our emotions. It is set in the heart of one of the busiest cities in Japan while moving slowly with nary a care in the world.

The overlapping blades create a moire effect that creates something like a visual illusion. You can see through the Metacloud, and yet parts of the image are occluded by the blades, forcing your mind to fill in the gaps. It’s almost as if you’re stuck in the Twilight Zone, constantly alternating between what is and what isn’t. It is both unsettling yet mystifying at the same time.

It turns out that those are exactly the emotions that designer Vincent Leroy wants to evoke, plunging viewers into what he calls a waking dream. In the past years, cities like Tokyo have “dozed off with confinement,” and the Metacloud wants to poke our minds awake while still alternating between the real world and dreamland. Whether you’d call it a dream or a nightmare is a personal judgment call, and it’s exactly the kind of thought-provoking process that the art installation wants to trigger.

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French artist robotizes data tracking and digital surveillance for a glimpse of our weirdly cute cyber monitored future

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Accept All is an installation from French designer and artist Guillaume Slizewicz that robotizes digital-surveillance cookies and online ad trackers.

Every single day, we invite surveillance trackers to watch our every move. Those annoying pop-up windows that ask you to “Accept All” are really agreements between the internet and its user meant to streamline one’s cyber experience by keeping track of online behavior. They help websites remember pieces of information like your email address, your billing zip code, and your credit card information, as well as present ads that target your interests.

It’s like when the barista makes your iced latte before you even order it. It certainly feels nice, like someone’s got you covered, and it’s a lot less work for you, all you have to do is provide the payment. We click “Accept” so quickly, we don’t even know what we’re accepting. Guillaume Slizewicz wanted to see what it would look like if these digital-surveillance cookies and ad trackers were robotized, which led to his interactive art installment, Accept All.

Built as autonomous, vision-tracking surveillance machines pumped with AI, Slizewicz’s Accept All installation sends floor-roving robots to the feet of visitors like curious puppies nibbling at their toes. Adorned in their Sunday best, each robot is given personality through whimsical costumes.

One robot wears a grass skirt hiked up too high on its head, while another carries an exterior wireframe that resembles a fighting bull. Outfitted in zany costumes to bring out their charm and subdue their darker purpose of surveillance, each robot uses vision-tracking software to mimic data tracking from web cookies.

Slizewicz dressed each one of his robots in a costume not to make data tracking feel cute, but to take back control of the systems that surveil. “When we were growing up, there was this optimism about the internet and technology. And little by little, it was all replaced by this [doomed] feeling,” Slizewicz goes on, “[Accept All] is also about taking back control of this technology.”

Built with the same local AI used by Google, each Accept All robot hosts a Coral AI system that allows them to remain autonomous in movement and pace. The AI embedded in Accept All robots run independently of the cloud, so backlogs of the information gathered by robots won’t be stored in the cloud for future use.

The more immersed as a society we become in technology, the more familiar we become with cyber-surveillance and data tracking. However, there’s a fine line between familiarity and comfort, just like there’s a difference between the barista remembering your coffee order and expecting the barista to remember your order. Through Accept All, Slizewicz exhibits what this familiarity could look like if we allow ourselves to become comfortable with it and if we allow ourselves to even find it cute.

Designer: Guillaume Slizewicz

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This digital organism lights up your garden and survives in any weather without any humans to help

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Move over Tamagochi. This “digital organism” can live in nature and survive any weather without any human intervention while looking great at night, too!

Art installations that blend technology and nature are nothing new, but many simply take inspiration from nature in terms of design or structure. These installations also take up a lot of time and effort to maintain, not to mention electricity that could be used for more important purposes. That’s where Werc’s collection of light and sound installations comes in, taking inspiration from nature not in the way they look but in the way they “live” in nature, just like normal biological critters.

Designer: Werc Studio

Tane is described as a self-reliant art installation and a “digital organism” at the same time. It’s completely electronic, with no organic components, but it mimics how groups of organisms behave, especially when the weather is involved. At its most basic, each Tane, which is the name for both the group as well as individual “organisms,” is a solar-powered outdoor LED lamp. What makes it different is how it responds to the weather and to its neighbors, almost like a living creature.

During the day, it tries to soak up as much sunlight as it can while emitting a gentle noise that could call to mind daytime critters like insects and even birds. Tane starts its light show at night, but how it displays its lights is dependent on so many different factors, including the weather, that it almost feels random. Each night can be a different experience, and when all units in a Tane are fully charged, the art installation goes over the moon with a dazzling display of lights.

Tane is actually the third of Werc’s “Lumo” family of digital organisms. All three are also self-sufficient to a certain degree and communicate with each other like a flock but also respond to their environments in different ways. Pixi attaches itself to trees and reacts to temperature and humidity, while Lily floats on water and reacts to waves. Tane and its cousins not only how art and technology can be inspired by nature but how they can also learn from it to produce visually satisfying and also sustainable designs.




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