Front de mer

Front de mer consists of 48 flip-dot panels covering the curved side of an intermediate floor slab within the Athropole building at the University of Lausanne (UNIL), a structure of brutalist style. The flip-dot panels operate with physical pixels — one side silvered, the other matte black — whose rotation is triggered by an electromagnetic system. This principle recalls the airport or train station displays of the 1980s, announcing departures and arrivals.

Here, the pixels compose an abstract, constantly moving surface. The images evoke aquatic motions: the shimmering of still waters or broad wave movements. Beyond the visual aspect, it is also the simultaneous activation of several thousand small disks that produces a wide, spatial rustling sound.

Kunst am Bau commissioned by SIK-ISEA.