We as a species have always expressed ourselves through art and design. Be it cave paintings, papyrus drawings or the watercolor art of the Renaissance, every era has had its special art form. Stories, myths and legends were propogated and solidified using this art and it continues to happen. Every era has also raised the benchmark of art, like sculptures by Michelangelo to now buildings by Zaha Hadid! The latest edition to art form are ‘kinetic installations’. Sculptures that move and are alive via technology and art form which is not only beautiful but also interactive is the next big thing. Let’s take a look at some fascinating examples of Kinetic Installations around the World!
1. Brixel Mirror by Breakfast
An art collective in New York, ‘Breakfast’ has come up with futuristic software and hardware driven artworks which aim to tell stories about current topics through interactive experiences. Featured in multiple places, these kinetic installations are designed in various themes like Climate Change, Pulse and their newest, the Brixel Mirror. Using an inorganic shape like rectangles, this artwork still creates organic movement and even has a shadow function which imitates movement.
2. CUPRA Kinetic Wall by Leva
Featured at the 88th Geneva International Motor Show, the Kinetic wall is a series of 139 petals, which Leva has created in partnership with TODO and Delfini Group. This dynamic artwork, with 139 components, moves together in artistic waves and opens up so that visitors can look through the wall. It also has a kinect-based detection system, which allows it to interact with people and so become a truly immersive experience.
3. Kinetic Rain by Art + Com Studios
A mesmerizing art installation at Singapore’s Changi Airport, which is also the World’s largest at 75 sq.m has been designed by Art+Com Studios. The terminal’s two central escalators is the backdrop for this installation which consists of 608 copper plated aluminium drops weighing 180 grams each. The rain-drops appear to fall and rise in a set 15 minute sequence with the help of computer controlled steel wires.
4. Urban Imprint by Studio INI
Tackling the topic of Urban Flexibility and user responsive architecture, is founder Nassia Inglessis with her first kinetic artwork Urban Imprint. An immersive outdoor installation, it was featured at A/D/O by MINI’s in Brooklyn, NY. The installation is completely interactive with the user, wherein the visitors are able to physically reshape it by simply walking over the steel spring supported floor. The ceiling and floor are connected in the sense that every footstep, raises the ceiling away from the visitor’s head resulting in an undulating shell like installation which reacts to movement.
https://youtu.be/a9FzulAI2-k
5. Diffusion Choir by Sosolimited
This installation celebrates the movement of an invisible flock of birds and is featured at the Biomed Realty building in Massachusetts. Composed of 400 elements which move and fold, this artwork draws attention to the sun-lit atrium. Every element can open and closed owing to a software which imitates a flocking algorithm. This evolving sculpture gathers every hour as smaller groups of ‘birds’ come together and every 15 minutes the ‘birds’ gather and perform a choreographed movement.