An exhibition featuring Reef, a collaborative installation between Rob Ley of Urbana Studio and Joshua G. Stein of Radical Craft, is on view at the Taubman Museum of Art through May 23. Funded by the Graham Foundation and the AIA, and showcased last June at Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York City, Reef investigates the role emerging material technology can play in the sensitive reprogramming of public space.

Comprised of hundreds of translucent panels and shape-memory wire, Reef utilizes an interface fed by an RGB camera and special software to create an installation that responds to its audience. Choreographed in curling combinations that express both mechanical and natural examples of motion, the work physically reacts to a range of programmed criteria. Criteria can vary from simply the location and proximity of a participant to qualities such as the color of clothing, or whether participants are alone or in groups. The result is an animated environment which explores behavioral possibilities within soft, fluid motion and interaction. Once passive viewers are transformed into engaged users through this dynamic platform, which amplifies the relationship of inhabitants to their built environment.