In its light-hearted approach of presenting exhibits that include everyday items, contemporary design, artwork and historical objects, "Measuring: This Much, That Much, How Much?" at 21_21 Design Sight has its fair share of crowd pleasers.
It begins with the "Perfektron," an installation that cleverly brings together humankind's oldest measuring tool — the hands — with one of our modern equivalents: sensors. If you can accurately judge the size of an apple with your hands, an apple appears on screen. If not, you'll get something the size of your guess — an egg, a grapefruit or if you're particularly spatially challenged, a melon or basketball. It's a simple, fun exercise that highlights the exhibition's strength: It's varied visual interpretations of how humans are constantly seeking ways to measure mass, space, time and value.
Other amusing interactive installations include: videos that allow you to experience traveling at different speeds; the "Pixelman," which will transform your figure into an 8-bit-like pixelated image projected onto a giant screen; and a device that monitors your heartbeat to compare it to that of an elephant and a mouse. Attractive artworks based on physics and geometry are equally entertaining, whether it's a kinetic sculpture moving at various revolutions per minutes or a cute circular bear design that was discovered from repeated drawings of the golden ratio.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.