Wonder of science can be seen amid shopping sites at Easton

It’s a Saturday night at the Easton Town Center. The mall is awash with shoppers hustling and bustling from store to store.

Most didn’t come to learn about science, but amid all the consumerism, some shoppers took a break to engage their senses.

Inside the Station Building behind the Easton 30 ticket booth is an unlikely attraction: The Rooms at Easton, presented by COSI Columbus. The exhibit, which opened Feb. 16, features five individual rooms that highlight science concepts.

Think art exhibit meets science demonstration.

On this weekend night, guests wandered from room to room and expressed awe at the surprises housed within each — from the Reflection Room at the beginning, which, with its wall-to-wall adornment of different-sized mirrors, creates an “infinity” effect; to

the Optical Illusion Room toward the end, where spiraling visuals trick the brain into seeing motion where there is none.

Though certainly Instagrammable — guests are encouraged to share the experience on social media using #Cosiateaston — COSI organizers are more interested in the educational component.

“You can’t go in there and go through the rooms without thinking,” said Frederic Bertley, president and CEO of COSI. “You can't escape the fact that your brain is neurocognitively doing these things without your permission.”

The collaboration between Easton and COSI also is part of Bertley's ongoing mission to bring science exhibits to places throughout the community.

“We need to have a COSI presence outside the building,” he said.

Easton representatives approached COSI about the partnership in September and development started just a month later, said Josh Kessler, director of production and exhibits. Kessler and his team brainstormed the concepts for the five rooms and installed them at Easton during a two-week period.

He is particularly excited about the White Room — inspired by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s obliteration room. Just like its name implies, it started as a blank space before guests began adding colored stickers to transform it into a whimsical room.

In early March, the room's floor and walls were already blanketed in a swath of reds, purples, blues and yellows. Some adventurous souls had even managed to affix stickers to the ceiling.

If you’re wondering how, fear not: every 30 seconds, a camera in that room captures an image that will eventually create a timelapse video, Bertley said.

Visitors to the Rooms — which is open through May 19 — can also explore the Blue Block Room, which invites guests to create their own structures using blue foam building blocks; and the Light Room, in which cycling colored lights affect how the shapes and colors on the wall are viewed.

Outside each room, placards explaining the science behind the effects visitors witness help drive home a simple message:

“Science literacy isn’t just things you learn in a textbook,” Kessler said. “Science is everywhere.”