Inspiration Wall, 2018

Inspiration Wall is an expansive ki­netic in­stal­la­tion that gives the foyer of the Merck In­no­va­tion Cen­ter a unique identity. The installation’s processuality, dynamism and reactivity symbolize the interplay of inspiration and innovation.

The dynamic interaction between the physical movement of the screens and the virtual movement of the images follows a generative choreography. The screens interact with the moving images and vice versa.

The kinetic installation expands across almost 18 meters of slightly convex wall space and consists of 72 screens arranged in 24 rows of three screens each. These screens move individually on a vertical axis.

The moving images are created procedurally and in real-time within a predefined spectrum. The nu­mer­ous individual scenes develop from ten different vi­sual worlds and are reformed anew, repeatedly, by different generative elements. The abstract imagery is inspired by four material properties – crystalline, cellular, molecular, and fluid. Four graphic ‘transitions’ create seam­less sequences between in­di­vid­ual scenes.

The in­stal­la­tion also reacts to the movement of visitors and changes its ap­pear­ance and behaviour over the course of the day. As activity in the foyer increases, the choreography becomes more dynamic. In the evening when there is less activity, the installation is less dynamic. As light levels decrease, the bright screens brighten even more, making the installation in the foyer clearly visible through the building’s glass façade.

The flow of images is also mixed with ty­po­graphic con­tent: short announcements by the In­no­va­tion Cen­ter up to a maximum of 140 char­ac­ters as well as current hash­tags from se­lected Merck Twit­ter accounts.

Inspiration Wall was commissioned by Henn Architektur and was produced in collaboration with schnellebuntebilder, MKT AG and medienprojekt p2.

Image ARTCOM_Merck_03 ©HG Esch