Gaiascope is artist Brooke Einbender’s newest public art installation commissioned by San Jose's Department of Cultural Affairs for the 2026 World Cup. This is an immersive interactive public art installation that blends kaleidoscopic optics, site-specific video art, lighting, and public participation into a shared, collective experience of wonder. It’s on view from May 22 through August 18, 2026 at Circle of Palms, 110 South Market Street, positioned between the San Jose Museum of Art and Signia Hotel.
The installation features three suspended sculptures embedded with mirrors, light, and moving imagery. Visitors peer into each sculpture to discover an immersive world of shifting colors, patterns, and infinite reflections. In celebration of the 2026 World Cup, colorful fractal patterns emerge inside the sculptures. When the shapes, reflections, and colors align just right, it can look like a psychedelic soccer ball swirling deep within the artwork.
Free and open to the public, the installation invites audiences of all ages to gather, explore, and interact. By day, the mirrored surfaces reflect the surrounding environment, folding the city itself into the artwork. After sunset, the sculptures come alive with shifting light and color, drawing viewers into an even more immersive experience.
Interactivity is central to the work. Two pedestals allow visitors to alter the visuals in real time using buttons and a control dial. Participants can adjust colors, patterns, and speed, creating a constantly changing experience that encourages exploration, play, and collaboration.
“Gaiascope is about expanding perception and creating new ways of seeing,” says Einbender.
“In the context of the World Cup, it becomes a space where global energy, local landscape, and shared experience converge. The more you interact with Gaiascope, the more dynamic it becomes. I love how people become part of the art and create their own unique experience through it.”
City of San José Director of Cultural Affairs Kerry Adams Hapner says, “As the capital of Silicon Valley, San José has a deep connection to art and technology. With this nexus and its spark of creative joy through participants’ interaction, Gaiascope adds a transformational quality to the San José experience.” Installed in downtown San José during a moment of international attention, the work reflects the city’s identity at the intersection of technology, culture, and innovation.
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