Vortext

Vortext is a 17m high spiral sculpture, located in a large public park in Seoul, South Korea. 

It starts very simply, as a red steel column coming out of the ground. The column then splits into a ribbon and begins to peel away from itself, vertically unfolding and opening out into a spiral canopy. Towards the top of the sculpture, the ribbon frays into multiple strands which deviate from the trajectory of the spiral, becoming seemingly chaotic.

The strands, ribbon and column, which make up the sculpture, are encrusted with a total of 24,000 multicolour LEDs, which have the ability to carry images and text, programmed and altered by passers-by. The fraying of the strands towards the top creates a misalignment of the LEDs, allowing images and text to become abstracted. When descending the spiral, these slowly reform into recognisable shapes; when ascending the sculpture, they simply fall off into the night sky.