The Big Picture: Zipper-fastened kaleidoscopic architecture
Ever looked into a kaleidoscope and wished you could just climb right inside? Well, unless you were willing to sip from the ayahuasca cup, you were fresh outta luck -- until now. The installation you see above is a project by Masakazu Shirane and Saya Miyazaki called "Wink," their entry into Kobe Biennial's Art Container Contest. The kaleidoscope concept uses mirrors (in keeping with Sir David Brewster's classic), but is also held together by zippers. Shirane and Miyazaki claim this makes it the first "architecture" based on zippers; proving you can create an adaptable, reconfigurable space using the same tech found in your pants. The installation -- housed inside a shipping container -- isn't all about dazzling mirrors, either. The duo claim it has eco-implications too. "This idea could solve global environmental problems, because it is easy to exchange only a part with a zipper."
