The chaotic confluence of the elements comes together to create a spontaneous interplay of light and shadow in [Simon Heijden](http://www.simonheijdens.com)'s latest installation, _Shade._ The inaugural recipient of the [NOW Gallery London](http://nowgallery.co.uk)'s NOW Commission, _Shade_ features modular glass panes controlled by the room-sized installation's walls, while an intelligent layer of electronic skin responds to wind gusts outside the building. Each module cycles between opaqueness and transparency, resulting in a constantly changing kaleidoscope of sunbeams cascading onto the floor and adapting to nature's fancy.

Cloud covers, passing animals, and even the time of day all dictate the dynamic light patterns projected in _Shade_. "As the patterns of wind and the quality of light are constantly changing throughout the day, the interior space regains the unplanned character of the outdoors," Heijden writesin the [installation description](http://www.simonheijdens.com/index.php?type=project&name=Shade%20Greenwich). "At night, the principle is inverted, and interior light is filtered to the outside and projects the kaleidoscopic pattern onto the surrounding pavement."

_Shade_ is set to grace the halls of [NOW Gallery London](http://nowgallery.co.uk) from Sep. 19 to Dec. 19, 2014, offering visitors refracted visions of order and chaos from within the comfort of the gallery's walls&#x2014;certainly a choice way to experience the elements during London's brisk winter months. Check out a couple GIFs and a short video of the installation in action below:

Shade, Simon Heijdens, 2010

Shade is a spatial projection of augmented sunlight.

A responsive glass of triangular sunlight apertures that open and close when wind moves over the 
outside surface of the glass, creating a living pattern of light that restores a natural flux to the otherwise
perpetual man-made environment.


The glass transfuses light varyingly throughout the day along with the sunlight changing from sharp and graphic in the morning to diffused and ambient in the afternoon. Wind gusts that pass the outside surface of the glass trigger the triangular cells in the glass to turn from opaque to clear, and thereby either passing or blocking sunlight. As the apertures open and close, they together create a moving, dimensional projection of light and shadow onto the floors and walls of the interior space, that reveals the wind patterns that pass outside.

As both the patterns of wind and the intensity of light are constantly changing throughout the day and year, through Shade the otherwise static and perpetual interior man made environment regains an unplanned, coincidental character that fluctuates along with the seasons. 

While the work itself has no physical presence and embeds in the architecture, its effect is strongly defining the perception of the space.

When it is dark outside, the principle is inverted and interior light is filtered from inside to outside, projecting onto the building's surrounding pavement. 

The first prototype of Shade was commissioned by and acquired to the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2010

Shade was commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum London as the inaugural exhibition of the new 1100m2 Sainsbury Gallery in June 2017.

simonheijdens.com/shade

Shade, Simon Heijdens, 2010

Check out [Heijden's portfolio site](http://www.simonheijdens.com) for more of his experiential artwork. _h/t [Raphaël de Courville](https://twitter.com/sableRaph)_

_[Use Sunlight To Create 3D Animations On Your Walls](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/use-sunlight-to-create-3d-animations-on-your-walls)_

_[Dream As You Cruise Inside This Stained Glass Driverless Car](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/dream-as-you-cruise-inside-this-stained-glass-driverless-car)_

_[Architectural Majesty, Glass House, Becomes A Fog Sculpture With Veil Installaion](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/architectural-majesty-glass-house-becomes-a-fog-sculpture-with-veil-installation)_

_[Artists Construct Giant Kaleidoscope Inside Japanese Shipping Container](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/enormous-kaleidoscope-transforms-an-industrial-shipping-container)_

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Design

A giant, wind-powered wall of lenses refracts kaleidoscoping sunlight into Simon Heijdens latest installation, 'Shade.'

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Weather-Sensing Walls Control This Kaleidoscopic Light Installation

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Weather-Sensing Walls Control This Kaleidoscopic Light Installation

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