Fort St. John will welcome Impulse, an interactive public art installation made up of illuminated seesaws where the public gets to be musicians and artists from Saturday, February 11, through Wednesday, February 22, at the corner of 100 Street and 100 Avenue.

This international exhibit provides a family-friendly light and sound experience to create an ever-changing composition powered by play. Opening night, co-hosted by the Fort St. John Arts Council, will feature music, hot chocolate, and more, from 6 until 8 pm on Saturday, February 11.

Part playground apparatus, part interactive installation, the multiple seesaws transform the space with the sound and light emitted when people play on them. To activate the seesaw, one person sits down on each end. The seesaws, fitted with LED lights and speakers, produce a series of beautiful sounds. The intensity of the light varies as the board’s angle changes. The closer you get to the work and the more you play on the seesaws, the more you notice subtleties in the installation and details in the sound and light. Impulse is an urban installation that renews itself for each different audience. Each person becomes, while on the seesaws, the player of a novel instrument.

"Art has a magical power to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. We cannot wait to see our community enjoying this temporary public art installation while reimagining the possibilities of our downtown,” stated Eryn Griffith, Arts and Culture Manager for the City of Fort St. John.

Impulse is a creation by Lateral Office and CS Design, in collaboration with EGP Group, with sound design by Mitchell Akiyama, mechanical design and fabrication by Generique Design, electronic design and fabrication by Robocut Studio, and produced by Quartier des Spectacles Partnership.

This temporary public art installation is funded by the Government of Canada.