The Wave

The Wave – An Interactive Sensorial Experience with Aluminium Structure

In February 2017 and 2018, in connection with the Frost Festival, you will find 40 nearly four meters high triangles at Ofelia Plads in Copenhagen. Extending from one another, theses triangles cover an area of more than 80 meters. During the day, the triangles rest unanimated, but when the night falls, lights and sounds come to life, and the installation turns into a sensorial, interactive work of art. The 80 meters’ of experience and impression consist of an aluminium structure with profiles supplied by Alumeco.

Light and Sound in the Copenhagen Nightlife

The Wave has been designed for the Frost Festival, and the project is supported by RealDania and the Ofelia Plads Association. The purpose of the installation is to create a sensorially perceived experience focusing on light and sound as well as on the associations linked to the interpretation of time and space that the sensorial experience may induce by means of the work’s reaction to movement.

The lighting designer Vertigo is behind the design of The Wave. The Wave combines Vertigo’s creativity and ingenuity within lighting design with a sound design of Peter Albrechtsen.

Vertigo describes the work of art as:

- An interactive, pulsing wave interrupting the long pier representing the dockside of Ofelia Plads and Skuespilhuset. The piece is designed to add an extra dimension of artistic life and sensuality to the square. Visitors may stroll through the inside of the installation and learn how the experience changes according to perspective as well as interact with the changing lighting design.

Focus on Finish and Flexibility

The 40 triangles consist of two kinds of aluminium profiles, both of which are customised to interact mutually in order to meet the installation’s spatial design requirements. In total, the artwork consists of approximately 1,219 meters of customised profiles from Alumeco. In this regard, the finish and expression of the artwork’s spatial structure have been crucial for Vertigo’s final satisfaction with the installation.

- The finish is very important to Vertigo. It is important to the overall expression and to both self-understanding and satisfaction as well as to the final result, Kasper Rasmussen from Vertigo, explains.

In this regard, Vertigo has experienced a positive development process framework:

- The cooperation with Alumeco has been good, and we have benefited from the company’s experience. Alumeco has demonstrated great flexibility in terms of getting a heavy industrial based process management to fit the strict and inflexible delivery requirements, which are often a prerequisite when working with construction and installation arts, Kasper Rasmussen concludes.

The Wave has been displayed in both Liverpool and Athens in 2018.