Always/Never by United Visual Artists is an examination of our perception of time.
About the project:
Always/Never is a grid of pyramidal elements inspired by the sundial, each passing through time at a different rate. Changing patterns of light and shadow create the illusion of a fluid surface; shifting combinations of colours from nature recall different times of day.
You can see it in motion in this video:
Rays of light captured by photographer Chaluntorn Preeyasombat
The Dandelion lamp by Oooms
SonUmbra by Loop.pH is a sort of solar powered tree that is motion sensitive.
About the project:
The atmosphere of musical rhythms, harmonies and luminous patterns are composed by the visitors’ movement - either active or passive. The light emitting fabric of the umbrella is crafted into a lacework of many electroluminescent fibres. This latticed pattern is animated in concert with the generated surround sound and visually illustrates the visitors’ position within the constellation. Wandering unaware or actively gravitating towards Sonumbra each person plays a part and becomes a note in a unique composition of light, sound and space.
More than merely decorative, the tree was designed for use in remote areas in need of low cost lighting. In addition, by providing shade during the day and a light source at night, it could serve as a safe gathering place for local communities.
You can see it in motion in this video:
Sonumbra @ Design and the Elastic Mind from Loop.pH on Vimeo.
What Lies Beneath by Gabby O’Connor represents an iceberg brought indoors.
About the work:
At a time when we are becoming increasingly aware of global warming and climate change, and what it means for humans, the melting of ice occupies a sensitive place in the collective consciousness. One of the projected impacts of climate change is a rise in average sea level, due in part to the melting of land-based ice. The gallery installation projects this possibility onto a physical space, where we are imagined underwater.
Lydia Davidson captures light beautifully. You can follow her on Tumblr.
Rick Giles’s Light is a series of experiments with exposure and movement. The light he finds around his country home slips through narrow cracks, creating distinct shafts of light that he then captures and manipulates in camera. Check out his site for many more of his lovely light experiments.
The lighting installation LES LUMIÈRES IMAGINAIRES by Chi-Yung Wong is currently showing at agnès b.’s LIBRAIRIE GALERIE in Hong Kong through September 1, 2012.
About the installation:
This concept was born of Chi-yung’s experience working with light over the past 10 years: learning, applying and creating lighting while living in Hong Kong, Finland and France.
Wong explores the ideas of the Big Bang, the parallel universe, and the influences of the enlightenment period into his own personal imaginarium that creates a mysterious alternative reality. Psychological turmoil and ecstasy are no longer shut away, but becomes physically manifest in the environment around you. These pieces use light, angles and different shades to create horror and beauty. As you explore the installation, what is your personal experience of it? Does the trick of the light make you feel uneasy? Perhaps you see beauty in being liberated from your senses.
Music composers Pierre Faa, Steve Hui, Martin Lai @ Mariscal Label and Tôn-Thất An were invited to compose the music specially for the scenographic installation exhibition.
Lampe Bloom by Patrick Jouin is inspired by flowers in nature. It transforms from bud to blossom in one movement, changing the amount of light it releases.
Artificial Moon by Wang Yuyang
Shylight by Design Drift is a series of lamps that bloom.
About the project:
Shylight is a light hidden in a cocoon. It is based on the natural process by which flowers attract and repel pollen-gathering bees. It falls out of its ëcocoon, opens its petaals and floats down to show all its splendor. At the slightest danger Shylight flips up and retreats into its shell.
You can see it in all its kinetic splendor in this video:
These spectacular light installations by Bruce Munro can be seen in the Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania through September 29, 2012.
About the project:
Wander through a field of light reminiscent of flowers, discover a meadow of glowing towers changing hues, and delight in a shower of cascading raindrops fashioned from delicate lights as you are immersed in a new and truly unique garden experience. Both indoors and outdoors, by day and by night, Light will change the way you see gardens.
As if that wasn’t enough, they’re also hosting a wide range of activities including SmART Nights where you can “hear some of the region’s brightest minds explore the science of light, then share your own bright ideas in an audience-participation StorySlam facilitated by First Person Arts”.
Photographer Edmondo Senatore captures the beautiful interplay of light and atmosphere in the Tuscan countryside.
Interactive artist Olafur Eliasson splits light into multiple color shadows in his piece Multiple Shadow House. Though it is made simply with a few multi-colored lights, the interactions of the shadows can be quite beautiful in their complexity.
Eliasson has cited the work of close friend Einar Thorstein, a philosopher, scientist, and engineer, as a constant source of his visual vocabulary. He has found inspiration in Thorstein’s spatial ideas such as geodesic domes, fivefold symmetries, spiral spheres, towers and pavilions, the golden ratio, and kaleidoscopes. Eliasson uses these concepts to create works like Multiple Shadow House which exist as experiences more than material objects. Presented via transparent means of constructions, these experiences illustrate the nature of perception-based stimulation as well as the artist’s ability to manipulate the experience.
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