Sun In The City

100 million times smaller than the real sun, this one, an awesome art installation called "Solar Equation" by Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, recently overlooked Melbourne's Federation Square for The Light in Winter Festival. This 14 meter wide helium-filled balloon is suspended in the air, and reflects projections generated by live mathematical equations, creating animations that never repeat themselves and imitating the turbulence seen on the surface of the Sun. Using an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, people can disturb the animations in real time and choose different types of visualizations. 

Being in Australia, the installation immediately brings to mind pertinent discussions of UV radiation and global warming. We can feel the heat just looking at the images, and, like the sun, it's hauntingly beautiful.

Images from GreenMuze. Read more and watch the video at the artist's site.

--- Viv