THE LAB
‘The Lab’ is a showcase of New York City based digital artists at the center of the Panorama Music Festival on Randall’s Island Park. With a total of six interactive installations combining technology, music, art, and design, the fully immersive exhibition produced a experiential digital playground for festival goers.
CLOSING THE CIRCUIT
‘Heartfelt’, one of the six installations, comprises a total of thirty-seven vertical metal poles arranged into two concentric heart shapes. Each pole contains a tube LED light. The light is activated when a person holds on to two poles, posing as a human conductor, and in turn closing the circuit which lights the installation up. The cluster of poles allows participants to move through the installation and discover different ways to engage and interact with ‘lighting up’ the project.
SHARED EXPERIENCE
Upon initial experimentation with the installation, the necessity of group engagement is quickly realized. The more participants that close the circuits the brighter the project becomes. With increased participation, groups often begin to discover more interesting and self sought ways of closing circuits by holding hands or creating indirect links.
‘Heartfelt’ relies on the ‘hand-to-hand’ connections made between people to create the experience. The visual result and the connection experienced instills the sense of solidarity.
