Larose Guyon developed a design for New York-based Rockwell Group’s brand new EMC2 Hotel in Chicago and came up with an interactive sculpture that combines ingenuity, art and science. Inspired by machines drawn and manufactured for the New York Art Director Club in 2015, the Rockwell Group asked designers/artists at Larose Guyon to create an distinctive piece of art for the EMC2 Hotel’s lobby.

By ensuring a fulfilling guest experience, interactive sculptures are at the very heart of history as they have the power to quickly immerse guests in the realm of art and science. In revisiting the zoetrope, a forerunner to cinema invented in 1834 by William George Horner and Simon von Stampfer, Larose Guyon were inspired to create their own new way to animate objects.

Forty-four pairs of laser-cut copper wings are arranged inside a large wheel which is cranked by hand. Looking inside while turning the hand crank will give life to the otherwise motionless display. The usually cold and inert materials suddenly become light and alive.

The crank handle, itself a lacework flower, brims with femininity and romanticism. The wings move in three dimensions, leaving the onlooker in awe of such a captivating sight. This work is a mere reminder that inventions of old are still something to marvel at.

For the two designers, staying local is very important. Chiefly in a will to give work to local craftsmen, but also in the hope of being able to offer a design that the local people can be proud of, all production and assembly is 100% made in Quebec.