BUILT INSTALLATION SPOTLIGHT
Pollinate: HUBweek Art & Technology Festival, Boston City Hall Plaza
$35,000 Curatorial Commission in partnership with MIT and Harvard University
Project Completion: 2017
A curatorial commission realized as an immersive, walk-in sculptural installation that combined a large-scale CNC-routed wall relief with a custom projection-mapped loop to activate a major civic plaza. Conceived and executed with cross-disciplinary collaborators, Pollinate was recognized as "one of the most Instagrammable spots in Boston" the week it debuted, drawing sustained public engagement and extensive press coverage that underscored its impact as experiential public art.
Pollinate: HUBweek Art & Technology Festival, Boston City Hall Plaza
$35,000 Curatorial Commission in partnership with MIT and Harvard University
Project Completion: 2017
A curatorial commission realized as an immersive, walk-in sculptural installation that combined a large-scale CNC-routed wall relief with a custom projection-mapped loop to activate a major civic plaza. Conceived and executed with cross-disciplinary collaborators, Pollinate was recognized as "one of the most Instagrammable spots in Boston" the week it debuted, drawing sustained public engagement and extensive press coverage that underscored its impact as experiential public art.
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• Project Scope: A site-integrated, walk-in installation designed for a high-visibility civic plaza, pairing an architectural CNC-routed relief surface with a custom five-minute projection-mapped digital loop. The work was structured to support continuous public interaction, clear circulation, and repeat viewing across daytime and nighttime conditions.
• Aesthetic Infrastructure: Pollinate operates as a time-based visual and spatial system, informed by network theory and biofeedback logic to transform Boston City Hall Plaza into a legible, magnetic beacon for gathering, movement, and collective attention. • Technical Execution & Logistics: Studio lead Jason Hoelscher originated the project title and curatorial framework, authored the proposal, and directed project logistics from concept through final activation, working in close collaboration with the artists and fabricators Will Penny, Michael Porten, and Britt Spencer. • Public & Media Resonance: Pollinate drew sustained crowds and widespread press and social media attention, with multiple mentions in The Boston Globe (including a Sunday print edition front-page feature), NBC News, online news and culture outlets, and regional radio, while also becoming a site for multiple spontaneous viewer performances and impromptu gatherings. • Strategic Impact: Engaging more than 51,000 festival attendees, Pollinate demonstrated the studio’s ability to translate complex systems-based ideas into high-traffic, highly visible civic placemaking, delivering experiential public art through deep interdisciplinary collaboration and precise logistical execution. |
Pollinate’s immersive walk-in format invited spontaneous, performative interaction, with visitors using the projection environment as a backdrop for movement, play, and improvised physical response.
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Image Gallery: Installation, Interaction & Activation
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