Light Rain

LiDAR, LED, fog and sound all combine in a remarkable ‘walk-in’ artwork by London studio Random International

Living Room is a walk-in artwork where space itself is considered as a living being. It shows with the fluctuating architectural domain created by light and fog which are the brick and mortar of the installation.

The artwork is conceived as a sentient organism embodied by light, fog and sound. The presence of visitors inside the space is key to activating all the elements and making them vary in unpredictable ways. Living Room is notably made possible by the use of LiDAR sensors that track visitors’ movements to document and create a stamp of presence of anyone and everyone. This same stamp can be turned into an NFT to immortalise this unique moment in time.

Random International says that the work explores the idea of space as a living being. Visitors are invited to enter a fluctuating architectural domain, which in itself a sentient organism embodied in light and fog. The organism uses these materials to express itself and interact with those who inhabit it. Continually altering its form in response to visitors in varying and unpredictable ways, Living Room creates a living labyrinth in real time and in real space.

The studio also describes it as a ‘machine’ that allows it to choreograph a precise dynamic and sentient architecture around its audiences. ‘The feeling we aim to create is an entire environment that ‘sees’ us, draws us in to devour us and at the same time invites us to instinctively connect with our fellow visitors and the environment around us,’ says the studio.

While the work may present itself beneficently in its relationship to visitors, there is little ambiguity as to who is in control of the dynamic between human and machine.

At all times, the machine leads the dance. This can instill in the viewer a kind of navigatory dissonance, with tensions constantly at play between the solid, static, and inert and the ephemeral, transient, and animate.

While the work may present itself beneficently in its relationship to visitors, there is little ambiguity as to who is in control of the dynamic between human and machine.

The artwork is conceived by Random International as a sentient organism embodied by light, fog and sound.

Leveraging blockchain technology in a revolutionary way, visitors can visualise their physical experience within the installation as a looped video, and perpetually mint and collect it on the blockchain.

Established in 2005, Random International is a postdigital art group exploring the impact of technological development on the human condition.

Best known for their large-scale interactive installations, the group works across an array of media including sculpture, light, kinetics, video, print, and sound. Founded and led by German duo Hannes Koch and Florian Ortkrass, the group has a studio in London and comprises a global team of talent.

Experimental by nature, Random International says its practice is fuelled by research and scientific discovery. The group aims to broaden the question of what it is to be alive today by experimenting with how we connect — to different kinds of life, to different views of the world, and to one another.

The presence of visitors inside the space is key to activating all the elements and making them vary in unpredictable ways. Living Room is notably made possible by the use of LiDAR sensors that track visitors’ movements.