In a series of choreographed rooms, Luftwerk developed three interactive and immersive installations at the Chicago Cultural Center. Connected together, the three installations each provided a distinct expression and exploration. With a focus on color, light, and space, Shift engaged thousands of visitors of the course of the exhibition.
Spectrum, 2013
Materials: Mixed media, 529 painted canvas squares with two channel video projection
Size: 19′ x 19′
In the first of the three rooms, visitors were greeted with Spectrum. A large-scale, digitized and re-imagined color wheel with 529 painted square panels—similar to pixels of colors—covering an entire wall. Once illuminated with animated, colored light, the reception of the colors shift in more than 3,174 tones of red, yellow, and blue. The varying and mixing of colors created nearly endless possibilities for color perception.
Synthesis, 2013
Materials: Mixed media, white floor, three color changing LED lights, sound
Size: 30′ x 40′
Synthesis created an interactive environment, animated by the visitors to the exhibition. A series of colored lights in the room set the stage for shadow play and color mixing. As visitors walked through the space, the light cast colored shadows in three different directions. The overlay of lights and shadows animated the interactions in new color combinations. Custom music by Owen Clayton Condon accompanied the experience.
Threshold, 2013
Materials: 2 channel video projection, mixed media, mylar
Size: 20′ x 6′
Challenging perception by examining how light travels and reflects, Threshold engaged visitors in a geometric and rhythmic display. Two 90-degree mirrored panels focus the viewer’s attention at the far end of the gallery. When vertical beams of light met the mirrored panels it caused the light to bend and gave the illusion that the gallery walls contain a portal beyond the actual space of the gallery as a finale to the exhibition.
- Reviews:
- Alumni Spotlight
- My Modern Met
- Chicago Life
- Newcity
- Curator
- Greg Lunceford
- Sound composition
- Owen Clayton Condon
- Technical programming
- Liviu Pasare
- Lighting support
- Brett Gardner & Jeremy Getz
- Photography
- Kate Joyce, Peter Tsai
- Support provided by
- The City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, as well as a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts
- Special thanks to
- Institute for Electronic Arts
Chicago Rooms | Chicago Cultural Center | Chicago, IL
2013–2014