Optik

The installation evokes communal connection by creating shared play experiences.  Sparking an ever-changing playful atmosphere within a space by providing an open-ended platform for users to engage with light, sound, and movement.

The 6-foot gyroscope-like forms enable the user to rotate the segments to create new ever-changing opportunities that reflect the sun and surrounding context during the day and refract the internal up lighting at night. As the audience rotates each unit, they create their own endless cascade of colors within the space.

“People were playing with Optik within minutes of it being installed on-site.”
— Chicago Navy Pier Staff

The experience is raised to another level as sound joins in the rhythmical effort, turning each unit into a different musical instrument. As the work is rotated a different note is played at every fifteen-degree rotation. Through movement and reflection of light, each of these colorful units encourages the public to engage with
another unit and other people within the space, sparking spontaneous conversations, dance parties, jam sessions, and light shows.

The work becomes more than just a photogenic monument within a space and becomes a communal hub for social connection. Optik showcases the value of play within our everyday spaces and how it can be utilized to
create more inclusive, social, and equitable spaces and places.