Charmaine Qiu – Looking Outwards – 11

Mimi Son is one of the founders of an art studio based in Seoul called Kimchi And Chips that specializes artworks that combine with the sciences and philosophy. One project that I find intriguing is the public artwork Halo created in 2018 that celebrates the fusion of nature and technology. The computational installation involved 99 robotic mirrors that constantly follow the location of the sun. At the same time, the mirrors emit beams of water mist that draw a bright circle in the air, mimicking the shape of the sun as it is brought down to earth. However, the circle’s completion depends entirely on the presence of the sun. In a way, this project collaborated with nature while exploring instances where it coexists with technology. I find the concept of robotic entities being completely controlled by nature very interesting, as it brought polar opposite aspects of design together to form a large scale installation.