Category: VIVID Light Festival

CLAPICONIA loves to perform, enticing people off George Street in The Rocks into the Suez Canal. Clap for it, and its stylised flower pods become illuminated castanets that snap open and shut to each stem’s individual rhythm.

Conceptually, CLAPICONIA is inspired by the Heliconia pendula plant – a native of the tropical Americas and Pacific Islands. The installation’s stylised interpretation consists of flat, triangular aluminium panels reflecting the brightly lit stamen inside – recalling the festive colours of percussion castanets. The flat panels are joined together to form ‘pods,’ whose malleable edges allow the flower to fold open and snap shut during ‘performance’. Solenoids enable the stylised pods to snap shut in tune to each stem’s unique rhythm.

With its interactive castanets, bright colours, and clapping sounds, CLAPICONIA invited passers-by to join in a cacophony of sound. It was installed in the Suez Canal in The Rocks, Sydney, from May 23 – June 9 2014.

Project Team: Rana Abboud (Design), Ewen Wright (Technical & Fabrication). Special Thanks to Xavier Nuttal, (Structural Engineer).

UNFURLII is the collective noun for a group of shy, luminescent creatures that unfurl to relax and coil when approached. Reach up to an individual Unfurly and it will retreat to safety by curling up and away.

Conceptually inspired by the unfurling motion of a fern, each Unfurly stem consists of translucent light bars connected to cables that allow the stem to curl and unfurl in response to motion below. Motors at the top of each stem alternate between pulling and releasing on the stem’s cables, pulling the light bars up and drawing their spokes into a radial pattern, thereby curling them into a protective stance.

Motion beneath the Unfurly is detected by sensors that signal to the stem to protect itself, pulling it up and out of harm’s way. Lower your arms and the Unfurly feels safe, soon relaxing down for a rest.

The design of the UNFURLII installation is deliberately minimal, to draw attention to their movements and the play of light. The simple bars can flex and twist in response to wind and weather conditions, and computer controlled LEDs allow the bars to change colour in sync with their movements.

The delicate cables of the UNFURLII are in keeping with the maritime setting of Walsh Bay. Basking in the expansive water and sky views of their setting, their ‘natural habitat’ provides an uninterrupted backdrop against which the luminous stems can play.

Project Team: Rana Abboud (Design), Ewen Wright (Technical & Fabrication). Special Thanks to Timothy Uren, programming legend; and Xavier Nuttal, engineering hero.

DIGITALIS is conceived as a genetically modified breed of the toxic plant Digitalis Purpurea, and fuses unrelated objects to create a new, modified hybrid. Low-tech recyclable materials are used in unusual ways to create an interactive presence: crumpled plastic cups become flower bells with glowing LED stamen.

This franken-plant responds to ‘threats’ on its territory in the same way as a rattlesnake warns off predators by rattling its tail. Each plant stem is linked to a proximity sensor that is triggered when people approach it. The activated sensor triggers a motor that vibrates the plant, causing its fluorescent cups to clatter against one another. Simultaneously, the plant’s dimmable LED lights glow brighter.

Project Team: Rana Abboud (Design), Ewen Wright (Technical & Fabrication). Special Thanks to Timothy Uren, programmer extraordinaire; Anton Grimes, model-making legend; and Charles Fortin for the hero photos!