ARTS & CULTURE

Dive into Jen Lewin’s Interactive Light Pool

“The Pool” invites visitors to create dazzling light displays by jumping across 100 glowing pads

December 1, 2013

"The Pool" by Jen Lewin, fuses visual art, technology and human interaction. Aaron Rogosin / Jen Lewin Studio

“It becomes art when people use it,” says Lewin, a Colorado-based multimedia artist who has been creating large-scale installations for 15 years. Aaron Rogosin / Jen Lewin Studio

Future versions of the Pool will allow for even more creativity. Lewin is developing a simple computer interface that would enable visitors to determine how the light-sculpture responds to them. “Technology is not the challenge,” she says. “It’s coming out with something that is meaningful for interaction.” Aaron Rogosin / Jen Lewin Studio

“The Pool” is the creation of Jen Lewin—and the thousands of people who hop, skip and jump across its 100 glowing pads. The computerized sculpture, scheduled to appear in Scottsdale (March 21, 2014), Cleveland (August 6-16, 2014) and Singapore in the coming year, fuses visual art, technology and human interaction: When you step onto a pad, it lights up, radiating ripples that collide and commingle with those of other pads. With a few participants, the Pool is a ballet of splashes; with many, it’s a symphony—or cacophony—of color.