The LEDs In This Kinetic Sculpture Simulate a Person Walking

When it comes to seeing and recognizing familiar objects, our brains fill in more blanks than we realize. Colossal recently shared a video of a kinetic sculpture—created by art and design collective Random International (the minds behind the Rain Room art installation)—that features 15 LEDs positioned so that together their patterns of movement form the framework of a person walking.

Titled Study for Fifteen Points, the sculpture is made of laser cut aluminum pieces, motors, a computer, custom electronics and software, and of course, the LEDs. And the illusion formed by those parts appears to change depending on viewers' perspectives and their knowledge of what the human body looks like in motion.

"When arranged and animated in order, the points of light represent the human anatomy," Random International told The Creator's Project about the sculpture. "Instinctively, the brain is able to stitch the disparate points together and recognize them as one human form."

The LED points on the sculpture are similar to the data that artists use in CGI to create animations from actors wearing motion capture suits, although actors have a wider range of motion.

Next up: This fall, the designers plan to launch a life-sized version of the 28-inch sculpture in collaboration with the Pace Gallery.

[h/t Colossal]

Images via Vimeo.