"me + you" is an interactive AI light sculpture commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution and part of the "Future" exhibition, which marks the reopening of the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building after more than 15 years of renovation. The sculpture is made up of three luminous elements: at the end of more than 1,000 translucent, glowing acrylic rods is a glittering point cloud of light; Nine dynamic hemispherical LED ports; and a 20-foot-tall central pillar made up of fins that radiate outwards and LED panels are hidden inside. An acrylic rod located directly above a single high-output LED node acts as Fibre Channel. The ends inside the bottom are polished to transmit as much light as possible. The ends facing the viewer are cut straight and etched to create soft but well-defined points of light.
The exhibition invites visitors to speak into one of the LED ports with a one-word vision for the future. Using AI technology, the artwork transforms the vision word and its tone into a dynamic expression of unique color and light and shadow, which then flows to the central totem pole, where the inputs of the other eight mouths are combined into an ever-changing representation of a "collective future."
We conducted full-scale model testing to evaluate the effect of ambient light on the light spot and to confirm the appropriate color temperature as envisioned by the artist. Totem poles need to model and test several materials in order to achieve the ideal balance between translucency, spacing, diffusion, and material texture and the media content carried by the LED panels. The LED panels were selected based on data processing capabilities, low visual form factor, cost, and a lumen package of sufficient strength to penetrate the large amount of ambient daylight that permanently permeates the final exhibition space. The final sculpture is a glowing invitation to everyone to co-create our present and future.
Project Name: Me + You
艺术家：Suchi Reddy, Reddymade Architecture and Design