Here’s an alternative to today’s rain clouds: the weather installation by London’s Random International allows one to experience the beauty of rain on his or her own (drier) terms. Installed at the Curve in the Barbican Centre of London, the Rain Room employs a 100 sq. meter grate overhead to shower a continuous stream of rainfall and mist over the exhibit. Sensors then detect the weight and footsteps of the audience, directing the falling water away from the person’s immediate space - a “carefully choreographed downpour that responds to [one’s] movements and presence.”
That looks and sounds absolutely beautiful. Still, in defense of today’s gray weather and wild wind, I suppose there is something to be said for the thrill of walking outside today and possibly being gusted far upstate. You know, swoosh right over the Canadian border like some swoopy non-passport carrying thing, wander the great Northern unknown. Will you ever find your way back? Who knows. It’s the quiet sort of life, punctuated only by the occasional gentle thrill of a tree gnome or Mary Kate Olsen encounter in the otherwise vast empty expanse of your new home, the great boreal forest biome.
- Maggie
