Smile

2016
Interactive light installation
Metallic structure, neon flex light tubes, computer, electronics, camera, LED strips
smile: 300cm in diameter. capture station: 160x60x40cm



The idea of light installation ‘Smile’ is to make people smile. Often, especially during the dark time of the year, we forget to smile. However, a single smile can make your and also maybe someone’s else day.
How does the installation make people smile? The artwork is composed of two parts: the interaction station, which recognises smiles, and a smiley made out of light tubes. When someone smiles to the interaction station, only then the light installation lights up. The idea is to smile and the artwork will smile with you. We want to forward the idea that a simple act as smiling, can make a big change, like lighting up all the neighborhood.
Happiness starts from a smile. We tend to smile, when we are happy. Hence, a smile seems to be a consequence of being happy or feeling good. At the same time such a behaviour pattern could be reversed: why not to smile first and then maybe comes also happiness or good feeling?
In short, the aim is to shake a passive behaviour of the audience and ask them to be active and smile. More smiles, more light!
Metal work by Tõnu Narro.

Exhibited: 
Maintenant Festival, Rennes, France (10th-15th Oct’17)
GLOW Winter Light Festival, Calgary, Canada (17th-21st Feb’17) | Shipping realised with the help of Plado Art Services
TAVA Tartu Light Festival, Tartu, Estonia (21st-23rd Oct’16)
Tallinn Winter Festival, Tallinn, Estonia (5th – 7th Feb’16)







With the support of: