Archimedes said that if you gave him a lever, he could move the Earth.
So what could you do if the installations around a city gave you a little permission to play?
Hi, I’m Helia 👋
Today I found something that made me think the world was very cute: Optik, by The Urban Conga.
There are 10 installations in the set, each about 1.8 meters tall and shaped a little like a gyroscope. In the middle is a layer of dichroic film that changes color with the light and viewing angle. A ring of lights is also built into each installation. During the day, the colors change with the natural light. At night, the lights come on, creating a completely different effect.
Give one a casual spin, and the colors change with it. You can see the effect in the photos~
Even more interesting, it makes sounds too!
Every time you rotate one by about 15 degrees, it triggers a different note. Each installation is like a different instrument—if all ten happen to have someone playing with them at once, it’s a little like those people have formed a temporary band~
I’ve always thought playable & playful urban installations were especially fun and cute!
After all, this isn’t a museum where we’re walking around looking at exhibits. So why can’t we make things that actually let us play? 🧐
I think playability is also part of what makes a city charming!
It reminded me of an original dating reality show I watched. One of the guests (from Guangzhou) spontaneously taught another guest (from Canada or the U.S., I can’t remember 🤦♀️) a Chinese sentence. The sentence she taught was, “I miss you so much in Hollywood.” I couldn’t help laughing out loud at the time hahaha
It made me wonder: those “I miss you so much in XX” text installations have gone viral in so many cities. If, besides giving people something to take photos with, one of them also let people play, what might it look like? 👀