REFIK ANADOL
Questions Refractions QUESTIONS HOW CAN PUBLIC ART BE A STORYTELLER FOR THE 21 ST CENTURY?
Questions Refractions QUESTIONS CAN PUBLIC ART HAVE INTELLIGENCE, MEMORY AND EMOTION?
Team Refractions TEAM Media Artist : Refik Anadol Project Management : DG HUNT & ASSOCIATES Engineering/Construction Support : ARUP Robotics : ABB Robotics Projection : Epson US LED : VER Advisory for Software Engineering : Microsoft Research
Artist Narrative Refections P: 02 INTRODUCTION The ambient qualities of the urban ecology are constantly being created, revised, and reimagined by human civilizations to create spaces that embody a unique cultural consciousness. Today more than any other time in human history, with the advent of digital media and environmental self-awareness, we are able to explore and manipulate the deeper relationships among the built, social and natural worlds. Through sensors, databases, and visualization techniques we can collect and interpret the real-time dynamics of a city: sound, light, air quality, acoustics, human movement, ecological dimensions, social preferences, and their countless intersections. In the meantime, while social media and global commerce have transcended the traditional confines of place, their impact on culture has made physical experiences, in-person human contact, and community identity more important than ever. Refractions is a series of examinations into new definitions of public space, personal interactivity, and collective memory as we strive to simultaneously redefine and preserve the most basic nature of the human experience. From ancient times to the present day, throughout the world, crystals of all types have been used to manipulate light and explore light s power as a media. Only in and around the Great Salt Lake, however, do we find the specific characteristics of the local salt crystal. Symbolic of the universal human experience, yet truly unique in character, these salt crystals are the physical embodiment of the Salt Lake City community. REFECTIONS THE REFRACTIONS CRYSTAL ON ON REGENT AUGMENTED SCULPTURES
Artist Narrative Refections P: 02 PROJECT DISCRIPTION Refractions begins with the inherent magical beauty of this form. A single salt crystal will be examined carefully through a collaboration with the X-Ray Crystallography Laboratory at The University of Utah, inspiring the form of world s first urban-scale parametric crystal sculptures. Upon it, layers of ever-changing light, motion, and interactivity will bring the sculptures and the space they inhabit to life. Just like the community it reflects, the artwork is rooted in the foundation of this unique physical place, yet it is constantly evolving and changing through human interaction. The Proposed art plan for Refractions consists of four interactive sculptures, augmented with light, and brought to life by interactive inputs and data driven visuals. The artwork is envisioned as an integrated, cohesive experience that is woven into the fabric of Regent Street through close collaboration with the design and construction teams, Salt Lake City Arts Council, and community stakeholders. Additionally, each aspect of the project will be developed in collaboration with some of the world s leading experts in Engineering (ARUP), Robotics (AAB), Projection (EPSON), and software development (Microsoft Research), in addition to ongoing collaboration with The University of Utah. REFECTIONS THE REFRACTIONS CRYSTAL ON ON REGENT AUGMENTED SCULPTURES
NEUMOUNT UNIVERSITY SCULPTURAL FAÇADE WALKER CENTER PARKING GARAGE x PROJECTION BOOTH PERFORMING ART CENTER INTERACTIVE SCULPTURE A x CONTROL BOOTH x INTERACTIVE SCULPTURE C INTERACTIVE SCULPTURE B
Artist Narrative Refections P: 02 FACADE SCULPTURE The primary component of the artwork is a parametric/sculptural facade installation on the west side of the Walker Center Parking Garage. The scale of the 10,000 sq. ft. surface and the dominance of the location will create a prominent landmark in the urban landscape and collective memory of Salt Lake City. During the day, the piece works as a beautiful sculptural landmark integrated into the urban landscape of the city and alive with subtle color and light. At night, the piece is further activated by the added layer of projected content. Real-time, generative visuals consist of synchronized graphics, reshaping and redefining the geometry of the sculpture. The three remote kinetic sculptures along Regent Street communicate with the Façade, their interactive data driving the experience. In turn, the sculpture influences and transforms the projections as well. Part physical and part virtual, part analogue and part digital, part urban and part natural, the façade becomes the nucleus for a spectacular, immersive public experience. REFECTIONS THE REFRACTIONS CRYSTAL ON ON REGENT AUGMENTED SCULPTURES
Artist Narrative Refections P: 02 KINETIC/INTERACTIVE STREET SCULPTURES The secondary kinetic component of the artwork is a series of three interactive, robotic sculptures located along Regent Street. The evolution of technology is driven by the aspiration to meld mind into matter, creating tools that are subservient yet autonomous from humans. Concurrently, experiments in sensory technology express the desire to create new ways of negotiating between the human body, human psyche, and the environment. The three Kinetic sculptures provide a more intimate, pedestrian-scale experience through real-time systems that synchronize sound recordings and generative visuals, transforming surfaces and movement through human interaction. Custom-created software and an ADA accessible user interface will transform the live audio recordings of Regent Street pedestrians into poetic light and motion patterns, creating a new experience of both personal and community activity in the space. Communication between these remote Kinetic sculptures and the primary façade sculpture bring the individual and the public together to tell the real-time story of a city and its autonomous inhabitants. REFECTIONS THE REFRACTIONS CRYSTAL ON ON REGENT AUGMENTED SCULPTURES
NEUTRAL POSITION ACCESSIBILTY GREETING GENERATIVE SPEECH PROCESSING DISENGAGE ORIENT TO THE FACADE TRANSMIT/UPLOAD
Artist Narrative Refections P: 02 PUBLIC THEATRE Media facades provide new opportunities for communication in public space. A building whose surface, and hence character, changes continuously will generate new relationships between users and their surroundings, and will provoke interactive participation. Refractions proposes a unique theater experience for a 21st Century public space through collaboration with The J. Willard Marriott Digital Library at the University of Utah. Open Source UTAH data streams and more 500 digital collections containing millions of digital photographs, newspaper pages, maps, books, audio recordings, and other items will be projected onto the sculptural façade as a part of the content program, creating a display of public memory never seen before. Additionally, interactive works of performing arts can be staged using the sculptural façade and projected content to engage live works of dance, music, and theater, creating new forms of immersive community programming. REFECTIONS THE REFRACTIONS CRYSTAL ON ON REGENT AUGMENTED SCULPTURES
Project Management and Design Development $ 400,000.00 $ 150,000.00 550,000.00 & $ 100,000.00 $ 100,000.00 $ 100,000.00 $ 150,000.00 $ 800,000.00 $ 100,000.00 300,000.00 1,050,000.00 $ 100,000.00 100,000.00 700,000.00 2,700,000.00
Artist Narrative Refections P: 02 CONCLUSION Refractions promises to create an immersive space where light gathers together the residents and visitors of Salt Lake City, inviting them to explore a new sense of their own individuality within the context of the shared public experience. The artwork brings the past together with the future, and in doing so strives to provide the audience with the magical experience of being in the present in a profoundly unique time and place. REFECTIONS THE REFRACTIONS CRYSTAL ON ON REGENT AUGMENTED SCULPTURES