Interactive Musical Lasers, Marshmallow Laser Feast is comprised of Memo Akten, Robin McNicholas and Barney Steel. The trio has focused on creating interactive experiences for the past two years. Their latest experience titled Laser Forest includes 150 interactive rods installed in a vacant factory space.
Their latest installation is Laser Forest, an interactive musical instrument which was commissioned for the STRP Biennale in Eindhoven. It’s a huge forest of laser beams that features over 150 rods which can be tapped and played. By strumming and tapping them users can trigger both sounds and lasers and the piece becomes a collaborative instrument, as well as an otherwordly playground. The idea was to tap into people’s sense of wonderment and playfulness and let them explore this in a magical environment. “Everyone has those memories of walking through a forest as a young kid and it feels so magical. We tried to recreate the sensation of a magical experience, for adults.” Akten says in the video above.
Adding a human element naturalizes the high tech experience and is something that runs through all their work. “One thing that we’ve found in our work is there’s an emotional, human side to the tech that we try and bring out from each project,” McNicholas notes. Set up in an empty factory space the piece transforms it into an ethereal wonderland where children and adults can lose themselves amongst an immersive and bewitching environment. When the rods are touched, they prompt visual and audio cues, successfully generating a large interactive instrument.
Alice Hellyar is an Architect and Craftsperson in the Columbia River Gorge of the Pacific Northwest, where she has practiced since 2011. Her work includes custom residential design with a focus on site specific homes. She is continually exploring the relationship between the natural world and the built world, which inspires her work. Alice is licensed in Oregon and Washington and is an AIA member. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Tech.