his is an interactive art installation created by architect Liu Yang (DL Atelier) for the 2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season, located at the West Bund Riverside Public Space in Xuhui District, Shanghai.

 

The work is cut from a single piece of high-strength steel plate originally used for aircraft carriers. Two weathering steel plates support each other to form a huge X-shaped structure, with a swing hanging at each end. It spectacularizes the children’s game of swinging. The rounded seats form a strong visual contrast with the sharp steel edges, while the nearby roads and open river view create a sense of “dangerous tension.”

 
When people sit on the swings, the swinging motion brings a feeling of weightlessness and evokes reflections on the original connection between humans and nature through dynamic balance. The rusted texture of weathering steel echoes the transformation of the West Bund from an industrial waterfront to an artistic one. The interactive experience breaks the boundary between sculpture and viewers, allowing urban dwellers to regain innocence in the swinging motion, and re-examine the relationship between urban life and natural instinct in the balance between danger and restraint.