Digital Divide

City of Santa Monica, CA

600’l x 9’h x 12’’w; Switch Glass, theatrical filters, playback computer control, photo voltaic system, steel; 2009

The wall separating the Big Blue Bus operations and maintenance facility and Colorado Ave is a kinetic artwork inspired by the sparkling blue ocean and the pulsing and ever-changing skin patterns of the indigenous squid Loligo opalescens. Created from glass and a special liquid crystal film, the wall ripples with patterning revealing and obscuring the maintenance facility by switching the glass from opaque to transparent cobalt blue in milliseconds. When backlit, the sunlight is projected onto the sidewalk in dynamic bursts of periwinkle blue- the iconic color of the Big Blue Bus. The Kinetic patterns change with the transparency of the wall.

This is a very "green" project utilizing hardly any electricity to operate and fully offset by photo voltaics located on the rooftop. There are 9 different patterns that repeat over a 39 minute cycle.

This project was done in collaboration with HOK Los Angeles. Special thanks to the Big Blue Bus, HOK, the office of cultural affairs Santa Monica, Miriam Mulder, Albert Kaneshiro, Jessica Cusick, Malina Moore, Paragon Glass, Karl Haas, Casey Fox