Rippling, unfolding, slithering and glowing like bioluminescent creatures, these kinetic and illuminated works of art are mesmerizing to watch. We can’t help being fascinated by the combination of light and motion, especially when it’s integrated into clothing, responds to our gaze or voices, or is engineered into monumental interactive installations of laser beams for our slack-jawed amusement.
Sound Activated Clothing by Ying Gao
‘Incertitudes’ and ‘(NO)Where (NOW)here’ by fashion designer Ying Gao are two series of unusual reactive garments – the former covered in rippling dressmaker pins, and the latter moving like a living creature while glowing eerily in the dark. The photo luminescent thread works with eye tracking technology to activate movement by the gaze of spectators, while the pins respond to spectators’ voices.
Experimental Kinetic Glass Installations by LASVIT
Czech lighting company LASVIT presents a series of experimental kinetic glass installations during Milan Design Week, creating immersive illuminated environments that move and shift in synchronized rhythms.
La Vie en Rose by Atelier Öi & USM
A company called USM produces a network of industrial components known as USM Haller Systems that offer infinite reuse and reconfiguration possibilities. For Designer’s Saturday 2014 in Switzerland, the company commissioned Atelier Öi to use these parts as a base for a kinetic art installation expressing these possibilities. ‘La Vie en Rose’ is the result.
CL:OC Installation by GROSSE 8
Hanging flurorescent tubes powered by twenty-eight motors hang in the air, constantly rearranging themselves to display the time in digital numbers. Created by German design collective GROSSE 8, the sculpture debuted at Interior Design Week Cologne.
Big Dipper: Helical Kinetic Sculpture by Michael Candy
Looming in the air like some kind of monstrous mechanical spider, BIG DIPPER by Michael Candy is suspended within an old warehouse in India, just waiting to scare the pants off a passerby. It features 18 fluorescent tubes sticking out of a plywood and metal body.
