Idea: Pole Dance, New York

Location: New York, New York
Project: Pole Dance poledance.so-il.org
Organization: Solid Objectives Idenburg Liu (SO – IL), so-il.org

Pole Dance is an interconnected system of poles and bungees whose equilibrium is open to human action and environmental factors. Throughout the courtyard, groups of 25-foot-tall poles on 12 x 12-foot grids connected by bungee cords whose elasticity cause the poles to gently sway, create a steady ripple throughout the courtyard space. Each grid contains a number of playful activators, such as hammocks, pulls, misters, and rain collecting plants. An open net covering the entire scope of the grid system provides shelter and stabilize the movement of the poles, preventing them from exceeding a predetermined maximum pivot. A generous series of multi-colored balls move above the net offering mutable shade and the appearance of a communal game. Dropping down at two points, the net surrounds a pool and a sandpit.

Pole Dance includes an audio device that measures the motion of eight of the fiberglass poles and converts it to sound, which is audible in the courtyard and streamed live in 3d on poledance.so-il.org. In the passive state, movement is generated by wind moving the poles or net structure. As the audience begins to interact with elements of the structure by pushing, pulling, or shaking the poles or moving the balls or the net, modulated tones are generated.