
first image
'cosmos' lighting simulation by leo villareal
presented above the johnson museum of art mallin sculpture court on the cornell university campus, american artist leo villareal
has developed an interactive lighting installation that is composed of over 12,000 energy efficient LED's. wired in a grid,
villareal has programmed the exhibition to portray the 'cosmos' illumination patterns, where computer software generations allow
for various shapes and variations to form. located on a high ceiling measuring approximately 45 feet x 68 feet, the site provides
high visibility on campus and a platform for the city of ithaca below to observe.

detail view of the cosmos


installation view from below

LED lighting install


view of the johnston museum of art during the lighting install

a crane lifting the first panel of lights
this installation completely detracts from i.m. pei’s wonderful architecture. where the johnson museum is simple and monolithic, the installation is scattered and constantly changing. whether it is a good or bad piece of interactive design, it totally disregards its site, something that i believe an installation should never do.
I think this is wonderful. A fitting tribute to one of Earth’s greatest men.
RNC – you might be missing the entire premise of juxtaposition here. Also, it calls out to the fact that the beautiful natural lines that occur in nature or architecture are only tempered by the chaos of the active universe?