Dancing Mirrors

Dancing Mirrors, Forum Schwanthalerhöhe
Munich, 2019
Ingo Maurer and Sebastian Hepting designed this large pendulum wave for the new shopping mall Schwanthalerhöhe in Munich. The pendulum wave "Dancing Mirrors" is an almost 10 meter high and 17m wide kinetic installation of 24 pendulums of different lengths, playing with the laws and the magic of physics.
The choreography of the mirrored spheres is bound to the laws of nature. Hence, the spheres oscillate when swinging initially as a closed line back and forth, but after a short time they form kind of snake and wave patterns, until the spheres dance confused. For the pendulum wave 24 mirrored spheres made of stainless steel with different lengths were installed. They get a mechanical impulse every hour. Over the next 60 minutes, the pendulum completes different formations. The pendulum is a physical phenomenon of nature. For Ingo Maurer, the pendulum is one of the kinetic experiences that calmly affect our well-being - a trait that leads to the discovery of slowness and relaxation in the hectic bustle of a shopping center. Another phenomenon arises from the reflective surfaces of the pendulum: the mirrored spheres seem to dissolve in the environment. The convex mirror summarizes the environment in a kind of 360 ° panorama, in the center of which is always the viewer. The light moods created by skylights and artificial lighting can be relived in the individual spheres. It also comes through multiple reflections to enormous depth effects and exciting illusions. Ultimately, the experience of one's own person arises through movement and reflection in space.

Photos and video: Kirsten Bucher, Frankfurt