Tired of the traditional light displays that you see every Christmas? Then you might want to head over to Crystal City and experience a new public art display, Impulse, which features interactive light and sound using a series of seesaws.
Located at The Grounds, which itself is a new public area (a little more than a week ago it was a parking lot, Impulse is a Canadian import—the artists, Lateral Office and CS Design, are from Toronto and the piece originally appeared at Montreal’s Lumionthérapie from 2015-2016—that emits sound and light when people use the seesaw, creating a unique light and sound pattern related to the motion. Up to four people can go onto a single seesaw at a time.
Impulse, which opened on Dec. 7, came as a result of a public art call put out by Crystal City BID in October with the goal of activating vacant and under-utilized spaces like The Grounds. “We were captivated by the opportunity to use light and sound, especially in the start of winter,” says Tracy Gabriel, the president and executive director of Crystal City BID. “To get to be able to deploy that kind of installation we felt that it would help to activate our outdoor spaces during what would otherwise be a more subdued time of year.”
As part of Crystal City’s overall goal to foster the arts and promote cultural experiences for its individual and business residents, The Grounds will be the home of many projects in the future, including an already completed mural from the local No Kings Collective that embodies the theme of The Grounds, “Let’s Play.”
“The Grounds sits at the hinge between Crystal City and Pentagon City,” says Gabriel. “We see this as a location that will help stitch together the two neighborhoods and bring a playful space for interaction and hopefully bring visual beautification, but also the opportunity for cultural experience to promote community dialogue as well.”
The site of The Grounds is actually just across the street from where a future Amazon building will be. The news of the retailer’s arrival has brought a lot of attention to the area, but Impulse, as well as other public art displays, provides an opportunity to expand people’s perception of the Arlington neighborhood.
Gabriel sees the arrival of Impulse as the first of many opportunities “for people who are now curious about Crystal City, about Pentagon City, Potomac Yard and what has been called the National Landing area, to get out and visit and experience first-hand our neighborhood.” // Experience Impulse daily through Jan. 7. The hours are Sunday-Thursday from 11 a.m.-8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
