Figure 8

E.A.T.
(Robert Breer, Frosty Myers, David Tudor, and Robert Whitman, designers)

Pavillion
1970, Architecture

Klüver writes, “E.A.T. carried out a project to design and program the Pepsi Pavilion for Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan. Four core artists, Robert Breer, Frosty Myers, David Tudor, and Robert Whitman initiated the design, which finally brought together 63 U.S. and Japanese artists, engineers, and scientists.

Above is a cross section of the Pavilion. The visitor entered through a tunnel and descended into a dark clam-shaped room lit only by moving patterns of laser light, created by a laser deflection system which used the four colors from a krypton laser and vibrating mirrors activated from the sound system in the mirror dome. Climbing the stairs, the visitor entered the main space of the Pavilion, a 27.5-meter-diameter 210-degree spherical mirror made of aluminized Mylar.

David Tudor designed the sound system with 32 inputs, sound modulation systems, and 37 speakers arranged in a rhombic grid on the dome behind the mirror. Sound could be moved at varying speeds linearly across the dome and in circles around the dome, or it could be shifted abruptly from any one speaker to any other speaker. The lights and sound could either be pre-programmed or controlled in real time by the artists from a console at one side of the dome. The artists conceived of this space as performance area that could be used by many visiting artists during Expo ’70.

[On the photograph of the exterior, left] The roof was covered by a water vapor cloud sculpture, designed by Fujiko Nakaya. And on the terrace are seven of Robert Breer’s “Floats,” 2-meter-high sculptures which moved around at less than a meter a minute, emitting sound. The two light towers are part of Frosty Myers’ “Light Frame” sculpture.

[On the photo of the interior, right] The mirror dome shows the real image created by the convex Mylar mirror. This optical effect–of producing a real image in a spherical mirror–resembles that of a hologram. The difference is that because of the size of our mirror, a spectator looking at another person’s image could walk around the image and see it from all sides. In this view of the mirror dome, you can see the real image reflection of the back of the white hat of the person wearing the white hat and pointing.

Our architect John Pearce devised an ingenious way the Mylar mirror could be fitted inside an airtight cage structure. A slight vacuum of less than 1/1000 of an atmosphere, which could be handled by a couple of good-sized fans, would be sufficient to hold up the mirror. By having a negative pressure air structure, there was no need for cumbersome air locks.

The floor was divided into 10 areas made up of different materials, such as Astroturf, rough wood, slate, tile, asphalt. Through handsets, like the one held by the boy in the photo above, visitors could hear specific sounds on each floor material. On the tile floor: horses’ hooves and shattering glass; on the Astroturf: ducks, frogs, cicadas, and lions roaring. These sounds were transmitted from wire loops embedded in the floor.”