Set in a darkened room, 220 magnetic neon pixel tiles comprise the installation Six-Forty by Four-Eighty. The work of digital artists Zigelbaum + Coelho—currently exhibiting at the Riflemaker Gallery in London until March 31, 2011—this interactive sculpture uses the human body as a platform for three-dimensional “pixels” to communicate with one another. By touching a tile and then touching another one, users can trigger changes in color or pattern, turning the viewer into not just a participant, but a necessary component for producing the visual effects. The human body acts as translator and transformer, although not the robot-in-disguise type transformer you’re thinking of.The artists describe it as:Six-Forty by Four-Eighty is an interactive lighting installation composed of an array of magnetic, physical pixels. Individually, pixel-tiles change their color in response to touch and communicate their state to each other by using a person’s body as the conduit for information. When grouped together, the pixel-tiles create patterns and animations that can serve as a tool for customizing our physical spaces. By transposing the pixel from the confines of the screen and into the physical world, focus is drawn to the materiality of computation and new forms for design emerge.[via Creative Applications]