Suspended within the open public space of the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, Gravity’s Rainbow hangs beneath the building’s stacked concrete volumes. Designed by Zaha Hadid, the architecture already plays with weight and instability, its heavy forms appearing to float above the ground. Against this backdrop, gravity becomes both a physical and perceptual force—felt through tension, suspension, and slow movement.

Gravity’s Rainbow explores how invisible forces can be made present through form and behavior. Here, gravity operates as a real-time generator, continuously shaping the installation as it hangs and moves within the space. Rather than competing with the architecture, the work amplifies its dialogue around weight, lightness, and equilibrium.

The installation consists of two clusters of hanging, laser-cut paper strips positioned on either side of the elevator core. Each cluster is organized into a radial array of catenary curves and mapped with custom color gradients. At the center of each cluster, an inner ring slowly rises and falls via a computer-controlled winch. As it moves, the paper strips adjust their parabolic shapes, allowing gravity to continually resolve the suspended form.

As the clusters shift, gradients are revealed and recomposed. The forms billow and relax, producing a soft, breathing quality that contrasts with the hard geometry of the surrounding concrete. Motion remains restrained but persistent, introducing a subtle sense of life into the otherwise stable architectural frame.

Inspired by gravity-driven form-finding experiments by Antoni Gaudí and Frei Otto, the installation functions as a live experiment rather than a static model. Material behavior, gravity, and custom software work together to produce a form that is never fully resolved—an evolving composition shaped by continuous negotiation with gravity itself.