Liquid Shards – Patrick Shearn (Poetic Kinetics)
This piece uses mylar and monofilament to float above LA, creating a sliver water/wave-like mass. The form changes, shifts, ungulates based on the wind. As it dances above the pedestrians walking beneath, the shadow and form it creates on the surface below is just as whimsical.
Shearn’s work is particularly striking, because is is rather simple in it’s form and technology. It’s just a few materials and wind that bring this piece to life and encourage passive interaction, meant to be enjoyed from the offices above as well as the people below. In a Colossal article on the piece, they highlight Shearn’s intentions well, “it is when things are zoomed in or slowed down that we begin to understand the workings of the plants and animals around us, and sense the movements that are imperceptible with our limited vision.”
Interactive Queue Lines – Disney
I am writing this post from Disney (which certainly influenced my choice in this second selection) and for years I have been following the way they use technology in their queue lines. They have found a need to incorporate more and more interactive spaces as thousands of quests, wait thousands of hours in lines. As they renovate old rides/shows or build new ones, there is one constant, they bring an interactive element to the queue lines. Each one is themed and very specific to their particular setting, they are meant to entertain and bring a sense of magic or wonder to all that interact with them.
These queue lines incorporate not only a assortment of different technologies, from screens to built physical forms, but many require physical interaction—both actively and passively. Some queues invite the guest to play games, while others might reveal a surprise. Some are close and able to be touched directly, while others are further away and react to the whole body. All of this innovation to help pass the time, it makes me wonder what other applications spaces and experiences like this can have.
XYZT: Abstract Landscapes — Artechouse (https://artechouse.com/)
I stumbled upon this project recently and decided to add it into this Looking Out. The ways they use space and time to manipulate the landscape and promote interactions is mesmerizing.
The exhibit “exploit[s] ancient techniques of illusion and endless possibilities of modern technology.” I think one of the interesting things with the more abstract forms is that they allow for both passive and active interactions.