The Ark Is The Coolest Art Installation You'll See All Week

Each time a piece of 3D projection pops up I have to say it and I'm going to say it again, 3D projection is the coolest.  There's something incredibly mystifying about normal everyday objects given such awesome purpose. The Ark is an installation set up in the Ethnobotanical garden located in Oaxaca, Mexico set up by artists Romain Tardy and Squeaky Lobster. The installation is described as a a three part audio-novel in which the the spectator takes the role of the cameraman, giving viewers the opportunity to create their own unique experience

The smooth ambient track and the beautifully lit cactus sit together hand-in-hand creating an experience unlike any other. It's instances like this that make me wish I had more opportunity to travel, just for the sake of seeing one of a kind pieces like this. Dammit, 3D projection is way too cool.

MIT's "ZeroN" suspends gravity and disbelief

Magnets. You know the jokes, you know how they work. Jinha Lee and Rehmi Post of MIT certainly do, and they're using that knowledge to produce "ZeroN", a physical and digital interaction element that floats and moves in space by computer-controlled magnetic levitation.

To realize such interactions, we developed a magnetic control system that can levitate and actuate a permanent magnet in a pre- defined 3D volume [...] combined with an optical tracking and display system that projects images on the levitating object. Conventional levitation only enables levitating an object at one point. In ZeroN Project, users can move a levitated object to anywhere in a predefined 3D space and leave it there without dropping it since the system constantly readjusts both magnetically and mechanically. It is about turning 3D space into levitating space.

Of course there's the argument of semantic scruples as to whether this technology actually counts as "anti-gravity" when it's technically just utilizing manipulated fields of electromagnetism. Electromagnetism, Anti-Gravity. To-ma-to, To-mah-to, To-yo-ta. What matter is that it's awesome. Now the question of practical applications...

Box

Until I see a making of, I'll be pretty damn skeptical of what I just saw. As performance piece centered around the art of projection mapping assisted by robotic arms, it's pretty damn impressive, but due to the overly perfect, nearly impossible looking synchronization of these camera angle reliant projections, I can't help but think there was some pretty heavy post involved here.

The main source of skepticism for me is when the panels actually move away from the camera but still have projected images on them, which is a little dubious and more reminiscent of those stunty viral-bait videos like Ok Go's This Too Shall Pass, which the directors claimed was shot in one take (Which was debunked). That aside, it's an absolutely gorgeous piece which stands well on it's own.

Tokyo City Symphony Brings Tokyo's Architecture To Life

Tokyo is already an incredibly lively and beautiful city, but with it's busy streets and constant change much of it's population has lost sight of it's architectural beauty. Tokyo City Symphony looks to change  the adapted mindset with not only the citizens of Japan but the world by dynamically changing how we can view the city. Using a 1:1000 scale model of the entire city of Tokyo, Tokyo City Symphony is given an incredible display perfectly set to music using 3D projection. The initial response is captivating and it truly creates an entirely different experience for the city, it almost begins to overtake your initial views on the city. What's even cooler is the entire project provides an a handson experience for you to create your personal Tokyo City Symphony.

By heading over to the Tokyo City Symphony website you can create your own Symphony and probably be lost for a good hour trying to perfect your track. It's damn cool.

Water Projection Is Still Awesome

I feel like there's never been an instance of 3D projection where I though, "wow this is f*cking horrible", that instance still hasn't occurred after watching Beginning. Using some interesting geometry, water, and a projector, Beginning is an incredible piece of work that I truly wish I could have seen in person. Luckily, we have the internet for events such as this where we can watch them as many times as we want. Check it out, it's truly awesome!.

Willow -Sweater

3D projection has made some incredible advancements recently (including dead rappers!) but this might take the cake. Using 3 projectors and a treadmill, Filip Steckx has created an amazing music video for the band Willo and what I believe to be the next step in exercise. I wouldn't mind running every day if I was able to run through the sea with luminescent Jelly Fish! Accompanied by an awesome track this is definitely a music video you you'll wanna watch all the way through.