‘Awesome 3-D Interactive Light Display Appearing in the Skies of Philadelphia’
Open Air will be introduced along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for a whole month. 24 powerful robotic searchlights will create enormous three-dimensional light formations, which will be visible up to 10 miles away, all by your voices.
Open Air Experience & Atmosphere
The City of Philadelphia is always promoting some form of art, especially of which takes place in the Art Museum District. With so many well-known artists of the past who align the Parkway such as Augustine Rodin and others, Artist Lozano-Hemmer will bring a new form of art to Philly.
The concept is quiet simple, that participants will record and submit messages of up to 30 seconds in length through a free app. Anything from shout-outs, poems, songs, rants, dedications, proposals, etc. What then happens is that 24 powerful robotic searchlights, stationed strategically along a half-mile section of the Parkway, will create a unique skylight formations in the sky. These lights will react in brightness and position to the GPS location of the participants and the frequency and amplitude of their voice recording, which can be heard through the app.
The free “Open Air Philly” app will available from the iTunes store starting September 20. Priority will be given to those submitting messages from the Parkway, but for those not onsite, the project website www.openairphilly.net, will allow users to record messages that will be archived and played back by the lights if other web visitors rate them highly.
Created by Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and commissioned by the Association for Public Art (formerly Fairmount Park Art Association), this project has been made possible in part by the inaugural round of the PhiladelphiaKnight Arts Challenge and presented in conjunction with the 2012 Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and the 2012 DesignPhiladelphia Festival.
Tens of thousands of individuals are expected to participate live during the duration of “Open Air”. There will be a special project headquarters, that will include app downloads and free mobile loan stations, which will be located at Eakins Oval (24th Street and the Parkway).
Be The First Public Voice Of Open Air
How awesome would it be to have your own voice be the first to activate and control the robotic lights. The entry with the highest rating and most votes will be played-back during the Public Opening Celebration on September 20. To enter, click here.
Location
Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Dates
September 20 – October 14, 2012
Hours
7 Days a week | 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm
Web Site
Open Air simulation photos courtesy of the Association for Public Art
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