Kristine Kim – Looking Outward-03

Glass II at La Triennale di Milano. Top view of the three columns in high brightness mode. Designed and constructed by the Mediated Matter group, MIT Media Lab.

Glass II, a sequel of project Glass I by Andy Ryan is a high- fidelity, monumental, and additive manufacturing technology for 3D printing “optically transparent glass.” To create the computational aspect of the installation, the team used constraints of the manufacturing platform and structural system and generated each of the glass column’s form. This demonstrates the ability to 3D print a wide range of shapes and sizes determined by the desired outcome of the creator. I was drawn into this project because of the dynamic and contrasting light source and its simple yet intense atmosphere. Each of the glass column is fitted with a dynamic internal lighting system called the “una stellina” and it is programmed to travel up and down the column, projecting a large “caustic footprint with kaleidoscope-like patterns.” This piece is very intriguing to me  because I am currently enrolled in a conceptual art studio class called Space and Time and this installation challenges the perceived limits and boundaries between time and space.