Art in the Building
The atrium in the IT University of Copenhagen building is decorated with a piece of art by John Maeda. The work is called "ITU Interactive Light Walls". It consists of four green panels on the building's east wing and three red panels on the west.
John Maeda has created two pieces for the installation:Dial-An-Art og Two-Chat. Currently it is a piece by Danish artist Thorbjørn Lausten that is displayed.
Henning Larsen Architects A / S has been responsible for the design of the panels themselves, and Fimat Microstar has been responsible for building and assembly.
Dial-An-Art
John Maeda about the piece: "The user inputs a number having several digits, such as a telephone number (6133788991) or a special date (06211992). The computer processes the number uses a generic art synthesis program, and the resulting dynamic graphical content appears on the display."
Two-Chat
John Maeda about the piece: "The user is presented with a series of dialog boxes for two or three voices. Either alone or with friends, the user inputs text to simulate a verbal exchange. The resulting conversation appears on the display. These two styles of content reflect both an abstract art concept as well as a concrete communication."
It is no longer possible for users to change the texts.
The technology behind the artwork
The light walls consist of 10 times 11 light spots. The individual light spots consists of six diodes mounted in a circle. Each diode is a 1W diodeof the type Fluxeon-star with Lambertian light distribution. The LEDs have a life expectancy of up to 100,000 hours (12 years with 24 hours of ignition per day).
The inauguration of the artwork
The artwork was officially inaugurated by the chairman of the board Mogens Munk Rasmussen at the official inauguration of the building on September 3 2004. In his speech Mogens Munk Rasmussen said "IT University will obviously like to support the digital art in Denmark. Therefore, it is with great pleasure that I can now open a digital work of art created by the American artist John Maeda."
After the speach the following message was displayd on the light walls:
HELLO WORLD
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TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK