64 Helium Balloons

A room is filled with deep, evolv­ing noises from a four-channel sound sys­tem. An eight-by-eight array of white, self-illuminated spheres floats in space like the atoms of a com­plex molecule.

Through vari­able posi­tion­ing and illu­mi­na­tion of each atom, a dynamic dis­play sculp­ture comes into being, com­posed of phys­i­cal objects, pat­terns of light, and syn­chro­nous rhyth­mic and tex­tural sonic events. Change, sound, and move­ment con­verge into a larger form.

The height of each helium bal­loon is adjusted with a computer-controlled cable winch, whilst the inter­nal illu­mi­na­tion is accom­plished using dim­ma­ble super-bright LEDs, cre­at­ing a pixel in a warped 8x8 spa­tial matrix.

The sonic events, the pat­terns of light, and the move­ment of the bal­loons are manip­u­lated in real time as a 45–60 minute-long performance.

Amaz­ing art instal­la­tion by Robert Henke & Christo­pher Bauder. The piece is called Atom (More pictures).

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