Members of the MIT community are used to coming upon unusual artifacts in the hallways from time to time — a mechanical innovation being tested, for example, or the whimsical handiwork of a hacker. A few years back, somebody even planted a mature wheat field in Lobby 7.
So when pedestrians come across the MIT150 FAST art installations on campus these days, most approach with delight and a degree of tolerance. Tolerance because the installation sometimes disrupts the pace of traffic and because onlookers often stop to get a better look, creating a bottleneck.
As such, we’ve put together a handy guide to the 20-plus FAST installations, noting the time and place of each project. This way, you can make a point to see — or avoid, if you’re in a rush — a work that’s being installed. You’ll notice that we have designed the installations to accumulate over the semester, so that an increasing web of unusual activities will emerge, indoors and out, between now and mid-May. While the detailed schedule might dampen the element of surprise, it will help you navigate the campus more efficiently when time is of the essence. By the way, we’ve included a short preview of the FAST installations below.
Haven’t heard about FAST? It’s a three-month-long festival of art, science, and technology honoring MIT’s 150th birthday and the Institute’s revolutionary work at the intersections of art, science and technology. The festival kicked off Feb 3-5 with a celebration of some of the Institute’s great artistic visionaries and culminates in a fantastic illuminated, interconnected campus on May 7th. In between, there will be a stimulating mix of performances, discussions, demos, and the unclassifiable. Explore it all here.
We hope that these FAST installations will add to your enjoyment of the MIT campus and MIT’s 150th over the next few months and that you’ll have a chance to sample a variety of FAST programs. Don’t hesitate to let us know what you think.
Sincerely,
Tod Machover (tod@media.mit.edu)
Director, FAST Festival
Professor of Music & Media, MIT Media Lab
Leila W. Kinney (lwkinney@mit.edu)
Director of Arts Initiatives
FAST Installations on view now
Bibliodoptera, by Peter Torpey and Elena Jessop, graduate students in Media Arts & Sciences
February through May
Location: Corridor along the Hayden Library Courtyard
A cloud of vellum butterflies printed with text from books, sheet music, and pages of MIT theses are illuminated by small lights from within. Find out more.
voltaDom by Skylar Tibbits, lecturer, Department of Architecture
February through May
Location: Passageway between Buildings 56 and 66
A vaulted passageway reminiscent of Escher, Gaudi, and the vaulted ceilings of Gothic cathedrals emerges from an innovative fabrication technique. Find out more.
IceWall by Yushiro Okamoto and Kian Yam, graduate students in architecture
February through March
Location: Killian Court facing the Charles River
Each block of this continuous wall of stacked ice blocks is embedded with flower seeds, so that the frozen barrier will give way to verdant garden as winter turns to spring. Find out more.
FAST Installations: coming in March
Overliner by Joel Lamere
Early March
Location: E-25 Lobby Stair
(now (now(now))): the Infinite Time Capsule by Charles DeTar and Eric Rosenbaum
Mid-March
Location: SA+P Plasma Screen Display, Bldg. 7, 4th Floor
Maxwell's Dream by Daniel Rosenberg and Kaustuv De Biswas
Late March
Location: Community Lounge on the Infinite Corridor
String Tunnel by Yuna Kim, Kelly Shaw, and Travis Williams
Late March
Location: Pei Arch & Dreyfus Bridge
Dis[Course]4 by James Coleman, Andrew Manto, and Craig Boney
Late March, Spring Break
Location: Bldg. 3 Stairwell
Mood Meter by Javier Rivera and Ehsan Hoque
Late March
Location: Stata Student Street, Infinite Corridor, Student Center, Media Lab
Read about other installations that will be included in the MIT FAST Festival
So when pedestrians come across the MIT150 FAST art installations on campus these days, most approach with delight and a degree of tolerance. Tolerance because the installation sometimes disrupts the pace of traffic and because onlookers often stop to get a better look, creating a bottleneck.
As such, we’ve put together a handy guide to the 20-plus FAST installations, noting the time and place of each project. This way, you can make a point to see — or avoid, if you’re in a rush — a work that’s being installed. You’ll notice that we have designed the installations to accumulate over the semester, so that an increasing web of unusual activities will emerge, indoors and out, between now and mid-May. While the detailed schedule might dampen the element of surprise, it will help you navigate the campus more efficiently when time is of the essence. By the way, we’ve included a short preview of the FAST installations below.
Haven’t heard about FAST? It’s a three-month-long festival of art, science, and technology honoring MIT’s 150th birthday and the Institute’s revolutionary work at the intersections of art, science and technology. The festival kicked off Feb 3-5 with a celebration of some of the Institute’s great artistic visionaries and culminates in a fantastic illuminated, interconnected campus on May 7th. In between, there will be a stimulating mix of performances, discussions, demos, and the unclassifiable. Explore it all here.
We hope that these FAST installations will add to your enjoyment of the MIT campus and MIT’s 150th over the next few months and that you’ll have a chance to sample a variety of FAST programs. Don’t hesitate to let us know what you think.
Sincerely,
Tod Machover (tod@media.mit.edu)
Director, FAST Festival
Professor of Music & Media, MIT Media Lab
Leila W. Kinney (lwkinney@mit.edu)
Director of Arts Initiatives
FAST Installations on view now
Bibliodoptera, by Peter Torpey and Elena Jessop, graduate students in Media Arts & Sciences
February through May
Location: Corridor along the Hayden Library Courtyard
A cloud of vellum butterflies printed with text from books, sheet music, and pages of MIT theses are illuminated by small lights from within. Find out more.
voltaDom by Skylar Tibbits, lecturer, Department of Architecture
February through May
Location: Passageway between Buildings 56 and 66
A vaulted passageway reminiscent of Escher, Gaudi, and the vaulted ceilings of Gothic cathedrals emerges from an innovative fabrication technique. Find out more.
IceWall by Yushiro Okamoto and Kian Yam, graduate students in architecture
February through March
Location: Killian Court facing the Charles River
Each block of this continuous wall of stacked ice blocks is embedded with flower seeds, so that the frozen barrier will give way to verdant garden as winter turns to spring. Find out more.
FAST Installations: coming in March
Overliner by Joel Lamere
Early March
Location: E-25 Lobby Stair
(now (now(now))): the Infinite Time Capsule by Charles DeTar and Eric Rosenbaum
Mid-March
Location: SA+P Plasma Screen Display, Bldg. 7, 4th Floor
Maxwell's Dream by Daniel Rosenberg and Kaustuv De Biswas
Late March
Location: Community Lounge on the Infinite Corridor
String Tunnel by Yuna Kim, Kelly Shaw, and Travis Williams
Late March
Location: Pei Arch & Dreyfus Bridge
Dis[Course]4 by James Coleman, Andrew Manto, and Craig Boney
Late March, Spring Break
Location: Bldg. 3 Stairwell
Mood Meter by Javier Rivera and Ehsan Hoque
Late March
Location: Stata Student Street, Infinite Corridor, Student Center, Media Lab
Read about other installations that will be included in the MIT FAST Festival
