FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

Meet the Sculpture Searching for Intelligent Life | Spectra-3

Spectra-3 is sculpture-slash-satellite dish yearning to find something else out there like it.

Shaped like the kind of satellite dish that might beam unrequited messages to a tragically doomed astronaut, FIELD's latest installation, Spectra-3, is searching. The kinetic sculpture began by bouncing light and sound throughout a building at King's Cross Station during London's Lumiere Festival in January. Its challenge: to inject human emotion into an object normally associated with elite government space missions, billionaire entrepreneurs, or far future societies. Its results: no aliens (yet), but in its movement it embodies one of our deepest desires as humans. In Spectra-3, the search goes on.

Advertisement

Watch the installation come to life above in The Creators Project's newest Eye Candy documentary, Spectra-3, and read on to learn more about the work.

Photos by James Medcraft

"Longing to connect with something is what Spectra-3 does," explains FIELD Managing Director Vera-Marie Glahn. "It's trying to find something that is like itself." The mirrored surface of the satellite dish rotates slowly as a cacophony of signals fills the room and reflected light splashes across the walls.

Visitors immediately latched onto Spectra-3's struggle. "Searching for intelligent life in outer space from Kings Cross," writes Instagram user Jared Pepall. "No sign." A video by Xavier Segers captured a couple of young women sitting on the ground and staring at the tilting sculpture. "2 girls waiting for a sign of life," he comments.

Explaining their fascination with the piece, Glahn remarks that it's hard not to anthropomorphize the work. "It's very human. It has a lot of personality. It's about three meters tall, so you can look it in the eye, but it's a little bit bigger than you." FIELD Creative Director Marcus Wendt adds, "It might start to look at you."

Spectra-3 is the third installation of FIELD's Spectra series of space-themed sculptures that feature light, movement, and sound. See more of FIELD's work on their website.

Related:

FIELD Create A Non-Linear Film About Our World In Turmoil

FIELD's Energy Flow: Exploring The Order And Chaos Of "Chance"

Afternoon Animation: Wander Through The Landscapes Of The Future