Phases Change

Scottsdale, AZ, United States

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Phases Change

Scottsdale, AZ, United States

Firm

post-

Type

Commercial › Pop-Up
Cultural › Pavilion Sculpture

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2024

SIZE

0 sqft - 1000 sqft

BUDGET

$10K - 50K

Phase Change is a site-specific, interactive installation that uses motion activation and diurnal cycles to invite reflection on local extractive water resource practices. Located in Scottsdale, above the Arizona Canal, the form of the piece is inspired by the nearby Four Peaks, referencing the mountain snowpack that Salt River’s water supply depends on each year. Displaced to the canal, these faceted ‘peaks’ have been split open, allowing viewers to enter. During the day, two-way acrylic mirror faces create infinite reflections of visitors. At night, lighting and colored interior mirrors turn the sculpture into a geode-like beacon, offering glimpses of endless landscapes within, referencing Arizona’s rich geological resources. When directly approached, the lights turn off, reverting the surface to a solid mirror and leaving the viewer to contemplate their reflection on the outside once more. Phase Change ultimately implies that our response to complex problems like climate change and water scarcity cannot be found in piecemeal, out-of-sight, out-of-mind solutions, but must begin from advancing our modes of thinking about our environment to encompass the temporal and entangled nature of local ecologies.

During the daytime, the two-way acrylic cladding of the sculpture’s flat “cut” faces will be frontlit, and function as typical facing mirror surfaces. A visitor moving between the sculptural elements will see themselves reflected infinitely between the geode segments. Inside the sculpture, structural folded aluminum plate modules each contain an independently-controlled high powered LED fixture. At night, the lights will be programmed to fade off and on in a series of generative patterns for the sculpture’s “resting state.” The interior of these modules will be lined in acrylic mirror material, which will result in each module becoming a multicolored infinity box when backlit. This will multiply the cut faces of the sculpture like a geode, revealing illusions of depth and colorful planes within. As visitors approach, a webcam mounted overhead will capture their locations and fade the lights of each module as it is passed. When fully off, the module returns to opacity, color fades, and the visitor will see themselves reflected infinitely in the exterior “cut” faces of the piece again.

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Phases Change

Scottsdale, AZ, United States

Phases Change

Scottsdale, AZ, United States

Product Spec Sheet

Collaborating Firms

Team