Studio Echelman is currently working on designs for a monumental aerial sculpture to premiere at the TED Conference’s 30th anniversary in Vancouver, March 2014. The sculpture will suspend 700 feet (longer than two football fields) in Coal Harbour between the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel and the Vancouver Convention Center.
Janet Echelman, the artist and a speaker at the TED event, will use interactive lighting that will allow visitors and TED attendees to influence the visual experience and connect with each other through participating in the artwork. The result will be a crowd-controlled visual experiment on a massive, floating canvas.
“Janet’s vision for the sculpture is absolutely spectacular,” commended TED Curator Chris Anderson. “We can’t think of a better celebration of TED’s 30th anniversary.” TED announced its invitation to bring back 100 of “the best TED speakers of all time” for TED2014, themed “The Next Chapter,” and Echelman will deliver one of these mainstage talks in conjunction with her sculpture premiere.
Echelman is working with design software company Autodesk, who have developed custom engineering software to make this effort possible, and are co-sponsoring the sculpture.
This sculpture installation will be available to the public in Vancouver by March 17 (the start date of TED’s anniversary event) and will then travel to other international cities as an “idea worth spreading”.
source/photo credit: Janet Echelman