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30 glowing seesaws light up Montreal

An exhibition called Impulse will brighten up the winter months in Montreal, Canada.

Thirty giant glowing seesaws accompanied by video projections will be located in the Place des Festivals.

When sat on, the seesaws will become illuminated and also produce music, resulting in a "constantly evolving ephemeral composition".

The project was created by Toronto-based firm Lateral Office and two Montreal-based companies, CS Design and EGP Group.

Conor Sampson, a principal with CS Design, told Canadian television that he was looking for "something fun and outside our comfort zone".

As people sit down on them, the seesaws produce a series of beautiful sounds and emit light of various intensities, depending on the angle of the board.

"When you see them at rest, they form an interesting pattern," Sampson said. "But what is really exciting is when they’re moving at different tilts and speeds, and the tones of music start to synchronize or de-synchronize. There’s something really exciting about the randomness."

The installations will be accompanied by "architectural video projections" lighting up buildings and sculptures.

The organisers say: "Impulse is an urban installation that renews itself for every different audience. Each person becomes, while on the seesaws, the player of a novel instrument."

The video projections were made by Maotik and Iregular, while the music was created for the seesaws and videos by Mitchell Akiyama.

Impulse will run until 31 January.

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