Twisted Arch: A mural lifted off the wall and twisted into sculpture (2025)
Twisted Arch is a collaborative work by Ken Hacke and Contemporary Vice. The project brings together Hacke’s large-scale sculptural fabrication and interactive lighting with Vice’s vivid, narrative painting practice—transforming a mural into a walk-through, immersive artwork.
The collaboration grew from a shared interest in moving painting beyond the wall and into public space. By wrapping expressive, hand-painted imagery around a precisely engineered structure, Twisted Arch merges two distinct practices into a single experience that is both visually striking and deeply interactive.
This partnership reflects a balance of structure and expression, where light, form, and painting work together to invite participation, curiosity, and connection within shared environments.
Twisted Arch is a mural lifted off the wall and twisted into a walk-through sculpture. Painting, light, and movement combine so visitors don’t just view the work—they step into it.
By day, hand-painted panels reveal layered stories through bold colour and detail, rewarding close looking and repeat encounters. The piece acts as a strong visual landmark, inviting people to slow down, gather, and engage with the narrative woven across its surface.
As night falls, the mural comes alive. Responsive illumination translates sound, ambient energy, and movement into flowing colour and animated pixels that travel along the spiral of the arch. As people pass through, their presence briefly shapes the work—turning motion into light and transforming movement through space into experience.
Designed for public space, Twisted Arch is durable, modular, and built for high-traffic environments. It operates simultaneously as a destination, a gathering point, and a threshold, framing movement, photography, and shared moments while encouraging participation rather than passive viewing.
The project was originally developed with support from Calgary Tourism, whose early investment made the work possible. Twisted Arch is currently installed at Calgary International Airport, where it welcomes thousands of visitors as a large-scale, interactive public artwork.
