FLYLIGHT is an interactive light installation composed of a minimum of 180 glass tubes.The glass tubes that light up and respond to the viewer are inspired by the behavior of a flock of birds and the fascinating patterns they seem to make randomly in the air. Actually this behaviour is not as accidental as it looks; birds have to keep a safe distance from each other. What will happen if an intruder interrupts their flight? This is what the viewer will experience when approaching the FLYLIGHT. We converted this bird-behaviour into a digital DNA and translated it into understandable visualisations with light. Each light is controlled individually, but the behavior is not programmed to a repeated pattern.Time after time the birds have to choose their way within the borders of the installation.
The lights can see their environment through sensors that translate the information into a computer simulation, which drives the electronics of the lights.
The first designs for FLYLIGHT were commissioned in 2007 and have further developed into the current form, which was shown at Salone del Mobile 2011 in Milan for the first time outside the Netherlands.We are currently working on customized FLYLIGHTS for private houses and public spaces in China, Russia and Europe.
