Last month, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, unveiled Los Trompos (The Spinning Tops), a large-scale, interactive design installation by Mexican designers Héctor Esrawe and Ignacio Cadena. You can see Los Trompos in person until November 29th, 2015.
You can watch a video of Los Trompos in motion – here.
About the project
As a blank canvas for community engagement and programming, “Los Trompos” draws its inspiration from the form of a spinning top, a toy popular with children around the world. The project features more than 30 three-dimensional, larger than-life tops in a variety of colors and shapes, which are installed throughout the piazza.
The colorful surfaces of each “top” are created in part by fabric woven in a traditional style by Mexican Artisans. By working together, visitors may spin the tops on their bases as they interact with the structures. “Only through this interaction and collaboration will the work come to life and be complete,” said Cadena.
“The concept behind -Los Trompos- is based on an approach of traditional toys, their colorful expression and the way they are constructed. We wanted to talk about the traditions and skills of the craftsmen in Mexico, as an inheritance of our culture. We like the idea of translating these techniques into new symbols” said Esrawe.
In addition to installing the tops on the Sifly Piazza, the High has partnered with Midtown Alliance to bring this interactive design installation from The Woodruff Arts Center campus to the streets of Midtown. Seven locations for the tops are currently planned throughout the district.
Co-curated by Sarah Schleuning, curator of decorative arts and design, and Virginia Shearer, the Eleanor McDonald Storza director of education, the High’s piazza activation initiative was launched to explore how engagement with art and design can extend beyond the Museum’s walls through dynamic installations, enlivened by a variety of programs, art-making activities and other interactive features.
Design: Esrawe + Cadena ® | Héctor Esrawe & Ignacio Cadena
Prototype: Gerardo Domínguez
Photography by Abel Klainbaum, Esrawe + Cadena, Jaime Navarro, Jonathan Hillyer