Living Light: 11 Transforming Kinetic & Illuminated Art Installations

GRID by Tetro

A grid of suspended LEDs hangs halfway between the crowd on the ground and the high ceilings of the Hotel de Region Rhone-Alpes in Lyon, France, for the French Fete des Lumieres. Designed by Christoper Bauder Berliner, the installation is made of 150 bars of motorized LEDs forming a dynamic grid.

Kinetic Mobile by Mischer’Traxler

This interconnected network of weighted lights, called ‘Level: The Fragile Balance of Utopia,’ kind of looks like a mass of floating cotton swabs. “For us, utopia is an ideal system in which personal freedom is confronted with communal interdependencies, in which ownership needs to be weighed against responsibility, and in which transparency is juxtaposed with privacy,” says creators Mischer’Traxler.

Self-Adaptive Membrane by Nohelia Gonzalez and Shreyas More

More functional technology than art, this self-adaptive membrane by Nohelia Gonzalez and Shreyas More of IAAC uses a passive kinetic motor to adapt to its environment, its tessellated structure opening and closing like a plant’s leaves and flowers do in response to sunlight and temperature.

Deep Web by TETRO+A and whitevoid

Deep Web is a kinetic laser installation by TETRO+A, whitevoid and composer and musician Robert Henke, incorporating 175 motorized spheres and 12 high power laser systems into a huge structure of moving lights synchronized to an original musical score.

m0za1que by LAb[au]

This permanent kinetic light installation by LAb[au] can be seen on the wall of the entrance hall at Maison Mecatronique in Annecy-le-Vieux, France. The installation consists of a wall divided into squares with 390 tiles motorized by linear actuators to create 3D reliefs of geometric patterns that evolve like cellular automata.

LED Flower Installation by BW Architects

LED flowers on thin metal rods sway in the breeze, moving at different weights due to the varying lengths of steel for a fluttering effect. This installation by BW Architects was created for the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.