Research notes for project planning
What the project record tells us
Burning Man 2022; development and pre-event testing
Evolution Field: movement-responsive light and layered form
Evolution Field's project site identifies the work as a Burning Man 2022 honorarium recipient. McConnell describes layers of visually woven lines with slow color fades at rest and more active behavior when motion sensors detect nearby people. The site also documents pre-event system tests, including installing a third of the work twice before the desert presentation. This is a useful precedent for treating interaction, testing and assembly as part of the artwork's development rather than assuming a lighting concept is ready for any site.
Evolution Field — Matt McConnell ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefWhat full-scale test, sensor tuning and maintenance access would be required before commissioning a comparable interactive light environment?
Big Art Partners planning prompt Artist account of audience research and iterative development
Evolution Field: participation changed the design
McConnell's project narrative traces Evolution Field from layered static color to light that responds to people. He credits his participation at Burning Man in 2019 with changing how the work addressed its audience, and describes testing a lighting system on his bicycle. During the pandemic pause, related projects provided further opportunities to explore the system. This is a documented example of iteration through participation and prototyping; it does not establish that the complete work is currently transportable or available for a new venue.
Evolution Field — The story behind the evolution ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefWhat audience behaviors should a new brief encourage, and how could a prototype test that interaction before the full installation is fabricated?
Big Art Partners planning prompt Exchange Plaza, Raleigh; public-art railings and planters
Canopy: public art integrated into a plaza renovation
McConnell Studios documents Canopy as steel-and-concrete railings and planters for Exchange Plaza in Raleigh. Its tree-inspired motif was intended for repetition across the plaza and reflected on the trees present before the renovation. The studio states that the work was built within the plaza's construction budget. This is a precedent for commissioning art as part of everyday site elements and coordinated construction, rather than relying exclusively on a freestanding object added after a public-space project is complete.
McConnell Studios — Canopy ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10
For your project briefAt what stage would the artist join the landscape and construction team, and which functional elements could carry a coherent site-specific design?
Big Art Partners planning prompt 
