Walk Walk Dance
Enchanting the post-COVID city
Musical bench
Inspired by the motions of the rocking chair and the carousel, Daydreamer is a series of slow rotating benches that play gentle music and light. They create a simple ritual around a moment of decompression, stimulating imagination and relaxation in urban dwellers. The work also encourages them to sync up in a shared calming soundscape.
A first bench will be presented in the City of Southbend (US) in the spring of 2022.
Permanent Installation — Spring 2022
South Bend, IN, United States
The benches can move with a rocking motion, a slow back and forth that is a soothing, primal gesture, tapping into embodied memories of being rocked to sleep. This motion helps us daydream, connect to intuition and is clinically proven to release endorphins, reducing stress and promoting a creative state.
The music that is created when moving the benches reinforces the sense of calm and invite musical collaboration with other benches, syncing up their motion to create more elaborate music together. This combination of elements is designed to invite a shared state of contemplation and curiosity.
Rotating benches play different tones that create harmonies with each other. As a whole, the sculpture acts as a giant musical instrument that anyone can play. By collaborating to align adjacent benches, visitors can trigger special melodies.