ELEMENTS - Sea is a permanent public art installation with 105 interactive spheres embedded into a wall, commissioned by the City of Ocala, FL. Each sphere generates a unique sound and lights up when touched. The design for ELEMENTS - Sea is based on the chemical compound of sea water, representing the natural environment of Florida, and facilitating our social activity based on what is surrounding us. The spheres are acrylic globes covered with silicone, each containing an LED and a speaker. The music emerging from the spheres was composed to unfold non-linearly, allowing people to touch and play the composition in any order, from various points on the wall with unplanned for combinations of sounds.
The installation layout is based on a simplified version of the chemical compound of sea water, each sphere being an electron in this chemical compound: Water (H2O) element with 10 electrons, 11 Sodium (Na) element with 11 electrons, Sulfer element (S) with 16 electrons, Potassium (K) element with 19 electrons, Magnesium (Mg) element with 12 electrons, Chlorine (Cl) element with 17 electrons, Calcium (Ca) element with 20 electrons. The spheres are laid out in 1 to 4 concentric circles per element. Each element is a different color.
Concept/Sphere Design/Creative Direction: Kiori Kawai
Concept/Music/ Electrical Design: Aaron Sherwood
Wall design: Mike Zeak
Production assistant: Tegan Ritz McDuffie, Tara Castellano
Commissioned by the City of Ocala, FL, USA
Supported by New York University Abu Dhabi