ABSTRACT
Far from nostalgic, Lightweave is a dynamic, immersive, and responsive structure that challenges our relationship to the city's infrastructure by activating otherwise neglected spaces to perform intuitively again. The responsiveness of the artwork has triggered impromptu gatherings and performances, with musicians performing while Lightweave responds to the sound of their music. Lightweave had to be designed to provide necessary illumination for pedestrians walking on the sidewalk, so the artwork was tested for its illumination levels and calibrated to respond to the variable light levels in the underpass. Lightweave bridges the two neighborhoods and knits them together again through the use of light. A woven structure of steel and light creates a serpentine chandelier that hovers above the sidewalk in the underpass and extends out of the space, onto the street sidewalk and into the Gallaudet neighborhood.
