On the Walkway: Public Art

April 15, 2014  |   Feature,   Initiatives
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“The very best public art fits seamlessly into the surroundings, serving a functional purpose while also providing an artistic experience for those that stop to enjoy it”, wrote a blog of “Tokyo’s 7 coolest public art pieces”

The boundary between a walkway and an adjacent artificial pond was chosen as the location for the work. This interface between “liquid” (water) and “solid” (land) was thematically used and augmented by the question of “real” (water ripples) and “virtual” (artificial light waves).
The boundary between a walkway and an adjacent artificial pond was chosen as the location for the work. This interface between “liquid” (water) and “solid” (land) was thematically used and augmented by the question of “real” (water ripples) and “virtual” (artificial light waves).

The person continued, “An excellent recent example is a piece in Shinagawa [pictured above] that unobtrusively uses LED screens and weight sensors to make an interactive artwork out of a simple walkway to the station. The glass tiles over the LED screens are equipped with load cells measuring the exact position and power of each footstep, triggering corresponding virtual waves on the screens that continue as actual waves in the adjacent pond. It’s an entrancing synthesis of the virtual and actual worlds with you as the nexus, or—if you are late for your train—it’s not a big statue getting in your way.”

This public art project, called Duality (2006), was developed by ART+COM, an non-profit organisation to explore the new mediums applied possibilities in the fields of art, design, science and technology. Ranging from artistic installations and design-focused projects to technological innovations and inventions, ART+COM’s work includes different kinds of formats: Autoactive, reactive and interactive objects and installations, media-based environments and architectures. Here is ART+COM’s site:

Duality