Tough Art Residency @ Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

Installed at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Optical Wonder is a circus tent of interactive optical light illusions!

Visitors spin a trunk segment, and watch as it actuates the rest of the trunks, until it begins spinning the top flowers, and then the top canopy of leaves. 

Lights affixed to the top of the tree point downward, and cast a rainbow symphony of light and shadows through the leaves and flowers. When spinning, these shadows move and create optical illusions at the visitor’s feet. 

This was created during my residency at the Children’s Museum. For this piece, I needed to create both the interactive art piece, and the container for showcasing the light. Additionally, it has to be tough enough to withstand the everyday use of the visitors at the children’s museum.