Pedestrian Drama, Interactive sculpture in downtown Milwaukee, United States
Pedestrian Drama consists of five aluminum kiosks mounted on light poles along Wisconsin Avenue that display mechanical flip-board animations triggered by motion detectors. These tell short stories at street level as passersby approach the displays.
The City of Milwaukee and Wisconsin Department of Transportation commissioned artist Janet Zweig to create this public installation, which was completed in 2011. The project was part of an effort to animate downtown public spaces.
The installation features 900 photographs from local actors, filmmakers, and community members acting in Milwaukee locations. These images tell stories about people and their activities in their own neighborhood.
Walk past slowly to give the motion sensors time to trigger the animations and see the full sequences. Visiting during daytime makes it easier to see the images clearly on the flip displays.
The kiosks use old technology from train station flip boards to power the moving sections. This brings the nostalgic mechanics of past train stations to the modern street level of the city.
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