Red Paper Heart

Part of Sagmeister's The Happy Show, Step Up To It' is a sculpture made out of 80.000 sugar cubes that animates in pure simple black and white until a viewer smiles, causing the sugar to light up with bright colors. Our role in the The Happy Show by Sagmeister & Walsh Inc. was to project animations onto typography that was created out of sugarcubes. While Sagmeister’s designers and a team of volunteers tirelessly glued sugarcubes into the phrase “Step Up to It,” we began working with Christopher Fung and the folks at Ladies and Gentlemen on the projections. We thought about the show as a whole, and kept coming back to the idea that there are some things in life that only happy people see. Naturally, we suggested that the "Step Up to It" projections would only reveal certain animations to happy viewers. In doing so we imagined a way to actually create happiness in the process. It’s hard to be unhappy when you’re smiling. “Step Up to It” animates in pure simple black and white until a viewer smiles, causing the sugar to light up with bright colors.