The installation in question is called "LENSES." This installation involves the use of prisms to move and twist around on a lit surface. Manipulating these prisms creates unique light reflections and sets of sound cues, so each and every person who experiences it will do so on an individual level. Aside from being very beautiful visually, the inclusion of auditory stimulus draws me to this piece in particular. The sounds these prisms make aren't necessarily conventionally musical but are reminiscent of something like twinkling stars or any perceived sound that we apply to lights otherwise. This is referred to by the creators as a "warm, ambient soundscape." There is only one video of this piece I can find, so it would seem that the best way to experience it is to go and see it for yourself.
Prisms, in general, allow for a lot of freedom when moving them around, not just in how light reflects but in how white light is split into individual spectral colors. They can reflect on each other and the surface they're on, bend light, and distinguish it. That instinctual attraction to bright moving colors makes it incredibly easy to get lost in a piece like this. They're bright, colorful, flashy, and dance across the surface as you move things, giving your brain an instant dose of happy chemicals.
The sound aspect of this adds a second layer of complexity. The choice to go with ambient and "twinkly" sounds was optimal, in my opinion, as it's the kind of sound that fits perfectly with the subject. When you see the light refracting and colors bouncing, you expect something in particular. The sparkling and twinkling is a less literal representation of sound and more relates to the sounds we've created for them. Stars do not make twinkle sounds, but they look like they should. The other sound choice adds a lot more to the ambiance they're going for in that it's very echoey and rings. The best comparison would be tapping glasses filled with water - but with less control over the specific pitch of the sound. It's mesmerizing, to say the least, especially when directly working with light and color.
Something like this would be interesting no matter what, but the interactive nature definitely appeals more to the average person. Humans like creating things, and this is a conduit for that. It's not an instrument in the traditional sense, but it's something that can be played around with a lot and with very little chance of someone doing the exact same thing as another person. Watching it be used feels like magic which is always exciting to experience from something that's essentially just using the laws of physics to create unexpected results.
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