Interactive art installation goes live in Seven Corners

The INOUT Cube.

The Cube has been revealed.

The interactive INOUT CUBE, the temporary public art installation in front of the Bank of America at the intersection of Routes 50 and 7 and Sleepy Hollow Road, went live on May 12.

Mason Supervisor Penny Gross, the artist team from the surcreative art studio, and leaders from Arts Fairfax (formerly known as the Arts Council of Fairfax County) participated in the unveiling, which occurred minutes before a rainstorm.

People register their opinions by removing stickers from the cube.

INOUT, part of Arts Fairfax’s Imagine Art Here series, consists of a solar-powered eight-foot cube with projections of local residents’ portraits on one side and removable stickers on the other sides that people can peel off to indicate their answers to these questions:

Where is home to you? (Fairfax County, family & friends, where I grew up, or where I am). 
What are you doing in Seven Corners today? (seeking culture, shopping/dining, working, or residing)
What makes you feel creative? (community, freedom, nature, or traveling).

The portraits were captured at “photo booths” in recent weeks at the Willston Multicultural Center, PetSmart, Dar-Al-Hijrah Islamic Center, Dogfish Head Alehouse, and the Bailey’s Crossroads and Annandale fire departments’ crab feast.

A photo booth will be set up at the cube every Saturday, 7-9 p.m., through June 23. The public can also submit photos to the project on Twitter (#INOUT7C) and can add their opinions on an online survey.

According to surcreative, the INOUT cube as an effort to engage the community by bringing people “OUT of their IN” and “to make the community the artist.”

Mason Supervisor Penny Gross.

Funding for the project comes from a proffer from the developer Trammell Crow Co. and a grant to Arts Fairfax from the National Endowment for the Arts, which was matched by contributions from the Fairfax County government, Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton Falls Church, Montalvo-Guillermet Photography, Pat & Steven MacIntyre, Silverwood Homes, Transurban, E&G Group, JBG Smith, Regency Center, and Ipsun Power.

Noting the tremendous diversity in Seven Corners, Gross called the site “a perfect location to bring art to the community.”

The site is challenging, however, because there are so few pedestrians, Arts Fairfax acknowledged. For those driving through the area, it’s worth a quick stop – and there’s plenty of parking.