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Erica Hobbs<\/span> Beacon Park\u2019s latest exhibit is inviting visitors to \u201cshape (their) worlds\u201d with an immersive installation that combines music, light and movement. \u201cShape Your World\u201d runs until Oct. 3 and features Optik, a series of interactive gyroscopes from the Brooklyn-based Urban Conga design studio, produced by Creos and co-hosted by the Downtown Detroit Partnership.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives visitors the opportunity to be thoughtful and intentional in terms of understanding their role in the environment and the ecosystem,\u201d says Beacon Park Manager Chris Polk. \u201cBut it also gives a little bit of creativity and personal touch, because you can actually manipulate the gyroscopes based on your thought, your vision and what mood you\u2019re in at any given time.\u201d<\/p>\n Optik includes 10 6-foot gyroscope-like structures that play sounds when turned and feature shifting displays of light and color. The Urban Conga Principal Ryan Swanson says the gyroscopes are designed so people can play music together.<\/p>\n \u201cEach one is actually a different instrument\u2026\u201d he says. \u201cYou can rotate it fully and kind of begin to play different kinds of full melodies. It creates that kind of connection with other people in the space.\u201d<\/p>\n The center of each gyroscope features a dichroic film that reflects sunlight throughout the daytime and refracts light at dusk, which Swanson says creates different effects.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great kind of thing to see both during different both day and the night, you get different experiences,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Polk said \u201cShape Your World\u201d with Optik invites people to reflect on their roles within the world and reminds them they have control within those roles.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want your \u2018world\u2019 to be in a different position, you can move that gyroscope, and it will react to your manipulation of it,\u201d he says. \u201cYou are metaphorically shaping your world based on what you think.\u201d<\/p>\n To complement the experience, Lumen Detroit is offering themed cocktails and mocktails.<\/p>\n The installation is part of Detroit Month of Design, a festival throughout the month of September that celebrates creativity in Detroit and its designation as the only UNESCO City of Design in the United States. With a series of exhibitions, installations, workshops and more, it features 95 events displaying work from more than 500 creatives.<\/p>\n Swanson said Optik is about play, environment and community.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about utilizing play to spark spontaneous connections within our public spaces,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about creating playful moments using sound and movement and light to really begin to bring people together in public space.\u201d<\/p>\n now through Oct. 3<\/p>\n Beacon Park<\/p>\n 1901 Grand River Ave., Detroit.<\/p>\n
\n\u00a0|\u00a0 Special to The Detroit News<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n‘Shape Your World’ featuring Optik<\/h2>\n