San Diego’s Rental Car Center Unveils Digital Art Installation

San Diego International Airport’s Rental Car Center has revealed a 1,600-foot long digital art installation, according to a report by Times of San Diego.

Entitled Dazzle, the installation consists of 2,100 e-paper panels attached to the rental car center’s facade, says the report. Each panel is solar powered and computer-controlled.

The panels collectively display more than 15 designed animations, including water ripples and snowflakes, according to the report. The artwork is named for dazzle camouflage, a type of camouflage for ships used in World War I. The outlines of ships could be camouflaged through the use of stripes and patterns.

“There is nothing like this — in terms of scale and artistic use of this sustainable technology in art — anywhere in the world,” Kimberly J. Becker, president and CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, told Times of San Diego. “We’ve taken a functional building and turned it into a vibrant artwork.”

The $875,000 project was funded under the airport’s public art program by a 2% distribution of the rental center’s construction costs, according to the report.

Click here for the full Times of San Diego report.