These Giant Crocheted Sea Urchins Are Bigger Than Anything Grandma Ever Made.
One of the most unusual art installations at the festival was The Urchins.
It was a display of three giant white sea urchins.
We've seen crochet-bombing done on trees, statues, and even cars.
But never of this magnitude!
Choi+Shine Architects took crocheting to another level with their unique art installation.
The crochet sculptures were crafted by hand to look just like sea urchins.
Not only do they look incredible, they offer the festival's attendees a unique interactive experience.
The event's theme was all about sustainability.
Each urchin in the series was about 56 feet in size and weighed approximately 220 pounds.
The Urchins installation was designed to shine in the sun during the day.
At night, it glowed under the dark sky. The different lighting effects were supposed to help create the illusion that the giant crochet sculptures were actual creatures that came out of the water.
You might be wondering how the lighting effects worked.
Well, at night the urchins were lit up by an artificial luminescence while in the day, they depended on natural light to create big shadows.
But they were more than just a delight to gaze at, visitors were able to interact with them too!
Whenever the sculptures were touched by either the wind or a visitor's hand, they moved organically.
Because these urchins were so big, they were not easy to produce.
It took a team of 50 individuals and an entire 3 months to hand-craft these delicate creatures.
The urchins are composed of white double-braided polyester chord that was woven into 20 segments.
After the chords were woven in, they were attached to a metal frame and lastly hoisted up.
Unfortunately, the beautiful display was only up for 3 weeks during the festival.
After the festival is over, the urchins had to come down. Nonetheless, this installation has clearly left a permanent impression on the people who got to see it in person.
The designers' original concept for the art installation was to create a "visual filter."
They wanted to make a "lacy room" of sorts that would create a sense of wonder for visitors.
"Seeing hovering and glowing lacy objects against majestic skyscrapers and dark water would make them pause and gaze," said the designers.
"This momentary pause of the mundane routine of our life would hopefully give us an opportunity to find the poetry around us."
Although all 3 urchins were essentially the same, they were each unique in their own way.
Up-close the interactive art's patterns were intricately different.
The i Light Marina Bay Festival took place between March 3rd-26th earlier this year.
The festival was primarily geared towards promoting sustainability.
The Urchins represented a balance between nature and the modern city.
With its soft-textured materials, the urchin softened the hardness and gritty edges of modern buildings.
Perhaps the urchins represented a bigger message.
The Urchins were trying to remind us that life and nature continue to flourish together.
Source: MyModernMet
Agreed. They are huge.
Bigger than what my grandma made as well.
That was a great read and the pictures were beautiful. This is what I like seeing on steemit, great job.
I was a little disappointed to hear that they were only up temporarily, imagine having permanent structures like this throughout the city.