BIG ♥ NYC

This Valentine’s Day installation in Times Square was designed by the famous international architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in collaboration with smaller local firms in New York City. It is made of several transparent LED-lit acrylic tubes in a cubical pattern that surround a suspended sculpture of a giant red heart. To make the heart pulse with light, users place their hands on a touch pad that can sense their heartbeat near the installation. Joining hands with other people while touching the sensor speeds up the pulsing light pattern and intensifies the brightness.

This installation is a simple but clever idea that not only encourages interaction, but collaboration among its users. Its performance varies depending on how many people touch the heartbeat sensor, which would prompt users to try interacting or holding hands to see the different outcomes of this giant box of light. This piece can be engaged with in many different social settings instead of being a solitary experience for one user at a time. Additionally, the giant heart encompasses the spirit of Times Square and Valentine’s Day when it’s literally powered by the energy of the people who experience it.

 

 

 

Mesa Musical Shadows

This installation is a series of light sensors in a colorful geometric pattern on the ground that play different musical tracks when triggered by a shadow. The music played depends on the time of day and the darkness of the shadow cast on the sensor. One can also step on the sensors to play sounds. Each set of songs creates a specific atmosphere for the four different times of day. It was created by Daily tous les jours studio from Montreal and made for the Mesa Arts Center in Arizona.

The intelligent output of this project is incredibly rich and detailed. The sensors select from a wide range of songs programmed with MaxMSP for each quarter of the day and constantly recalibrate themselves to determine the specific values of shadows as the natural light changes over time. The hardware is also impressive, as the speakers had to be carefully installed underground and each of the 47 PCBs for the sensors was custom made. The project faced many practical challenges such as preventing water from entering the speakers and having easily removable hardware for city inspections. This installation is worth discussing because of how much complexity and consideration goes into creating something so simple and whimsical.