Air Curtain

2013
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Air Curtain is a dynamic, interactive art piece designed for the Minneapolis skyway system. The installation consists of a cascading ceiling-mounted sculpture consisting of five hundred small fans with LED lights. Each is individually computer controlled to create a dynamic field of movement, color and sound. It is inspired by air curtains, which are used in heating and cooling systems where a barrier is needed across an open threshold to reduce energy costs. Air Curtain monitors the temperature across the skyway, and counteracts the inefficient movement of air in an artistically imagined way that demonstrates patterns of energy consumption in thermal environments.

Project Credits: 
Futures North: Daniel Dean, John Kim, Adam Marcus, Molly Reichert