Field of Motion is composed of over 6,000 brass fins distributed across three ceiling bays at the Utah Tech Performing Arts Center. We developed a Grasshopper definition that uses a spatial noise map to control the length, directional bend, and color of each fin. Rather than defining a fixed pattern, this system allows gradual variations across thousands of individual elements to produce larger, continuous fields of movement. The plan animation above illustrates how changes in the noise map generate different flow conditions across the three ceiling bays. As the parameters evolve, individual fins respond to the changing field, creating shifting patterns that appear to move through the installation. This animation became a way to explore the range of possible configurations and understand how local variations could produce a unified composition.

We developed a 4′ × 4′ physical prototype to explore how the individual brass fins attach to the ceiling slats and how their varying lengths, orientations, and colors produce a collective visual effect. The prototype allowed us to evaluate the relationship between the computational geometry and the physical assembly, particularly how the fins interact when viewed from different angles. The isometric animation above shows how changes to the noise map generate a continuous transformation across the field of fins, allowing us to explore the relationship between individual elements and the larger patterns they produce. Although the final installation is static, animating the definition allowed us to explore how different configurations could suggest movement through the geometry itself. This definition became the basis for the overall installation model and the development of the individual fin geometries.

You can download the Grasshopper definition here: fin_group.zip

The completed installation translates these computational studies and physical prototypes into three suspended fields of brass fins. Viewed from below, the individual elements merge into larger patterns of color and movement that shift with the viewer’s position. You can see more about the project here.