Glow Globs
Glow Globs is a group of three inflatable light sculptures first installed for the 2019 BLINK festival outside Cincinnati’s Central Library. Their rounded forms draw on tree roots, mushrooms, rock formations, and the movement of air. By day, the white nylon emphasizes their folds, bulges, and seams. After dark, internal LEDs transform the forms into softly glowing sources of colored light.
The project investigates how pneumatic pressure can shape a textile surface. Each sculpture begins as a digitally modeled volume, developed through subdivision modeling in Maya and translated into fabric panels using Grasshopper. Studies in Kangaroo and Clo3D helped anticipate how inflation might change the geometry and where the sewn seams could experience greater strain. The panels were then cut, labeled, and machine sewn before being connected to blower fans. Each inflatable contains approximately 80 to 100 fabric panels.
Although the initial geometry was designed digitally, the final form depends on air pressure, fabric behavior, and the precision of its seams. The inflated surfaces wrinkle and stretch in ways that make those forces visible. When the fans are turned off, the sculptures collapse into lightweight fabric forms that can be transported and installed again.
At night, color-changing LEDs diffuse through the nylon. Visitors moving nearby interrupt the light and cast shadows across the installation, becoming part of its changing appearance. The abstract shapes leave room for interpretation, inviting viewers to find their own associations in the glowing forms.
Project information
First installation: BLINK, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 2019
Location: Outside Cincinnati’s Central Library
Project type: Inflatable lighting installation
Works: Three sculptures
Materials and equipment: Nylon fabric, blower fans, and LED lighting
Approximate size: 2.5–3 m in each direction per sculpture
Recognition: Bronze A’ Design Award, Lighting Products and Fixtures Design, 2020–2021
Project coverage: CityBeat’s 2019 BLINK guide