Light Show

Last weekend I found myself with a, surprisingly rare, free Sunday morning and took the opportunity to head down to the Hayward Gallery on South Bank for the Light Show exhibition.

Naturally as a lighting designer I had a particularly keen interest in the subject matter, but I can’t recommend the exhibition enough to everyone.  Designer, or otherwise, the exhibition is a collection of fantastic examples of art, technology and lighting, spanning from works in the 1960s through to present day.

The exhibition is a wonderful assault on the senses, demonstrating how strong and powerful the sense of vision is.  From the mesmerising Cylinder II as you walk in, to the astounding effects of Chromosaturation and the slightly unnerving Reality Show, here are some of my favourite pieces from the exhibition.

Cylinder II, Leo Villareal
Cylinder II is the first piece that you come across in the exhibition, and it sets the tone for the high quality of artefacts in the room.  Over 19,000 LEDs in a piercing cool white CCT are stacked in highly polished mirror finish housings to form endlessly changing patterns.

Evocative of “meteor showers, falling snow, clouds of fireflies and other natural phenomena” the software used to program and control it is set on the ‘ultimate shuffle scheme’, where the pattern and effects never repeat.  With varying brightness, speed and direction, the whole sculpture captured my gaze into a trance-like manner, mesmerised with the patterns of oscillation.

Exploded View (Commuters), Jim Campbell
Combining some clever technology, Exploded View (Commuters) becomes immersed into the gallery space, subtly interacting with the audience as more people pass by.  Linked to a sensor as you approach the sculpture down a small stair, the rippling effects of LEDs blinking on and off is directly related to the passers-by.

From almost every viewpoint as you walk 360 degrees around the 1,000 suspended LED point sources, the blinking appears as a random array, but, from from a certain distance and at a particular angle, a discernible image emerges as a shadowy figure.  You notice it in a second as you move around, and then in the following second it is gone.  As more people pass through your viewpoint is lost to the flickering patterns that follow.

Wedgework V, James Turrell
I won’t spoil the surprise on this one, but approaching the exhibit by feeling you way along a pitch black corridor the softly glowing colours are not all they seem.

By spending up to 15 minutes in the room your eyes adjust to the light levels, gradually seeing more than when you first entered.

Slow Arc Inside A Cube IV, Conrad Shawcross
Enclosed in its own space behind a curtain, the slow arc is a show of a deceptively powerful shadow effect.

Inspired by the “immensely complicated process of mapping the molecular structure of insulin” the slowly rotating arm spins a light source through varying angles of orientation, swirling the grid-like shadows across all surfaces in the room.  Walking across the room is a bewildering experience, your brain, confused by the “moving surfaces”, struggles to coordinate with walking in a straight line and I found myself following others out the room by carefully sliding my palms along the flat wall for reassurance!

Chromosaturation, Carlos Cruz-Diez
Chromosaturation was my absolute personal favourite of the exhibition.  A real highlight demonstrating colour and human perception more simply and powerfully than words ever could.  Must be experienced in person to be fully appreciated!

Colour becomes a situation happening in space

Donning shoe covers you step into the first of three pristine white connected rooms, each flooded in a single colour – one red, one green, one blue.

Immersing yourself in the monochromacity your eyes view skin tones and clothing colours completely differently (skin looking particularly awful under green!).  Since your retina is used to perceiving a wide range of colours simultaneously these “monochromatic situations cause disturbances”.

The initially intense colour eventually “fades” to a pale, verging on white, imitation until you move along into the next room.  The green now comes across more vibrant than ever, and a glance back shows the “pale” red as a rich and intense pink, with the once blue room further along seemingly transformed to the most vibrant purple.

There are many more on show at the exhibition, and even those I’ve just mentioned take on far more impact and effect when experienced in person.  A true visual treat.

The exhibition runs until May 6th and if you do get a chance to visit I really recommend it.  It’s fantastic.

Images from http://www.haywardlightshow.co.uk

Arcades

As a lighting designer I’m often collecting images and bookmarking articles of inspiration in my work, but when I came across Arcades by Troika it was too good not to share.

Balancing simple principles of physics it took careful experimentation to transform the initial concept image into reality.

As part of the Future Primitives Project for this week’s Biennale Interieur 2012 in Belgium, the deceptively simple installation of bent light archways uses Fresnel lenses to refract the rays of light through a single focal point.

Cleverly, this doesn’t just alter the direction of the beam of light, it bends it hyperbolically to create the mysterious arches.

The installation venue was deliberately chosen as a space with strong brick walls and exposed beams to further enhance the notion of “inscribing one architectural space within another”.  The light forms something almost tangible, must be quite a surreal sensation to walk through it.

Amazing stuff.  More info on the Troika site.

Alchemy Of Light

We’ve seen some excellent projection mapping over the past couple of years bringing both buildings and objects to life, but this is the first instance I’ve come across using projection mapping as live performance art with an interacting human element.

I would have loved to see the original ten minute performance of Alchemy of Light by a dandypunk live, but the excerpts shown in the clip below give a real insight into it.

Labelled as a cluster of “art/movement/technology/inspiration” it truly is an exceptionally well executed piece of creativity.  I can only imagine the number of hours that went into rehearsing and synchronising this!

More from a dandypunk here.

Femto Photography

If, like me, you subscribe to TEDTalks (well worth doing by the way) then you may have already seen this but if not, then I’d like to introduce you to the concept of Femto Photography.

Femto Photography is a new type of imaging so fast that it takes one trillion frames per second (“1″ followed by 12 zeros!).  That’s fast enough to show light itself in motion.  Yes, a wave that travels at almost 300m/s is slowed right down so we can see how it interacts with the world around us.

Stunning stuff and expertly explained and demonstrated for non-physicists like myself to simply understand.

Presenter Ramesh Raskar hopes that one day “this technology may someday be used to build cameras that can look ‘around’ corners or see inside the body without X-rays”.  Technology is rather incredible, isn’t it!

Wake Up Light

British Summer Time has officially ended and, whether you agree with it or not (the subject of many a recent debate), our clocks have recently been pushed back an hour.  This gives us ever so slightly more light in the mornings to wake up to, but considerably less in the evening when travelling (cycling) back from the office.

It may have been a struggle for you getting up this morning, or even coming home with it much darker than usual, but spare a thought for the town of Svalbard in Norway, the northern most town in the world.  It’s dark, continuously for 11 weeks at a time as the sun sits 12° below the horizon (known as polar night) – as far as natural light is concerned, there is none.

Not sure whether it’s 11am or 11pm?  Just head to the local shop, if it’s open then it’s am, if not then you can go back to bed because it’s pm.

Being in the lighting industry I’m well aware of the manner in which light, natural or otherwise, can play and influence your body’s rhythms, emotions, and physical well being.  Our body clocks are extremely sensitive and adaptable to light.

Cue Philips to tackle this ever-dark arctic town with an island-wide experiment to all use their Wake-up light to “wash out the sleep hormones” and overcome “sleep inertia” to ease you into your day.

After just two weeks 78% found it easier to get up in the morning, and after four weeks that figure was up to 86%!  A similarly high 87% felt more refreshed and ready for their day, with 86% reporting a positive impact on their mood.

Full details on the site here.

A Litre Of Light

As I work in the lighting industry I tend to keep a close eye on new technologies, more efficient ways of using light and working to meet increasingly ‘green’ needs.  So when such a novel lighting solution found it’s way into my inbox it really caught my eye.

A bottle of water with a few drops of bleach is all it takes to provide a lighting solution to the light-deprived slums of the Philippines.  The mere simplicity of it is staggering.  Nature at it’s finest being exploited for those that need it, spreading sunlight throughout places that rarely see it.

It is almost like taking a step backwards in terms of pushing new technology, but really this is the kind of thinking and innovation that we should be embracing.

Designed to emit clear light for around five years, it is incredibly sustainable.  Just watch the video and you’ll see what I mean.

The simplest of solutions, the most cost effective of products, and all developed to aid some of the world’s poorest people.  Light can have an incredible effect on state of mind, motivation, circadian rhythms and general health as a whole.  This simple product will really benefit the entire community, and bringing it to people who have little or no money, or even electricity, is a fantastic solution.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Pyramid IV

I’m a particular fan of projection mapping as many a post in the Inspirational Geek archives will attest, whether a car projected onto itself or an interactive advert, I even got to attend Pryda’s EPIC where he projection mapped Brixton Academy in its entirety!

The work of Dev Harlan, however, takes a different stance on light projections and the end result is really quite a wondrous effect.  Here is his Pyramid IV, an energetic and creative installation.

It’s utterly enthralling, particularly when the camera angle changes and the same transitions take on a completely new perspective.  You really can’t help but be entirely absorbed, and then slightly disappointed when it’s over.  To prolong the disappointment check out his equally fascinating Suffolk Deluxe Electric Bicycle for some knitted projection goodness.

RGB Wallpaper

Yes you read the title correctly, RGB wallpaper.  This particularly creative output is the product of Italian design studio Carnovsky and has been created for the Milan branch of Janelli & Volpi.

Each wallpaper style offers an utter visual delight in overlapping illustrations and colours, revealing one of three designs depending whether you shine red, green or blue light on them.

I can see real potential in expanding the application of this technique.  Everything from colour changing interiors in bars and clubs, to public spaces that could seemingly alter their environment at the flick of a switch.

The lucky folk in Berlin can go along to the Johanssen Gallery until February next year to see these pieces first hand, with the stunning addition of a similarly themed series on playing card based prints.

Carnovky’s Francesco Rugi explains ”in each there are printed three different playing cards: The overlapping of colours mixes up the forms so that it is difficult to recognize which figure is represented, an enigma that can be solved just through the use of one of the coloured filters.”

If anyone is stuck for a Christmas present for me then one of these beautiful sets would go a long way to earning my affection.

More images from the different wallpaper series’ here.

All photographs: Alvise Vivenza

Via Creative Review Blog.

Get Your Energy Back

This is great, really great.

The advert is for the New Toyota Auris Hybrid which recycles energy as you drive, so you get your energy back.

A boundary pushing 3D Mapping Projection event from Glue Isobar, filmed entirely on location in Shoreditch back in September.  A truly cutting edge display of audio visual technology, not only seemingly interacting with it’s environment but, with some conscious set design, allowing people to get up really quite close to the subject matter.

A clever combination of key frame, 2D, 3D, algorithmic and dynamic driven animations provide genuine depth and relief to the scene, from the props and accessories to actually projecting a CG car directly onto the car itself.  The surfaces appear full of motion and transition in a somewhat Transformer-esque manner, despite being entirely static in the real world.

The ‘Making Of‘ video is well worth a watch too, right down to the detail of how they overcame portraying a single cohesive piece of artwork lit across a range of surfaces from the pearlescent finish on the car to the brick and concrete it sat on.  Check it out here and see all the glory of the seven projectors, 28million pixels of texture, 100k lumens of power and 3,670 cups of tea it took to create!

There’s also a rather impressive collection of photos on Flickr from the event too.

100% Design

I had the chance to go down to Earl’s Court on Friday and check out 100% Design.  Plenty of inspiring and creative work, from recent graduates and independent designers to larger established companies.

Electrolux did well to get a spot near the entrance, and giving out a decent bag early on (the staple of any good exhibition stand) meant that most attendees were walking round advertising Electrolux throughout the afternoon!  The Electrolux Design Lab was most impressive, in particular showing off Kitchen Hideaway, Kitchen Elements and the eventual winning concept The Snail.

100% Materials offered a fantastic talk from two recent Central Saint Martins masters graduates.  Monica Sogn first showed an exploration into ‘Making nutrition a tangible matter’, followed by Chiara Onida showing off the beautifully exquisite ‘musical’ carafes and wine glasses.

One of the most impressive feature installs was Roca‘s “The Wave”.  A 15m kinetic light installation that consisted of 40 motor controlled hanging rods with integrated LEDs all set to move and simulate ripples and waves.

Ciclotte offered a refreshing product design take on the traditional exercise bike.

My favourtite stand (and quite a few others’ too) was the completely original and amazing cardboard installation from Creative Trust.

Cell Lighting displayed the extraordinary Lighting Kaleidoscope, a pixel-esque grid of LEDs which attracted plenty of worthy attention.

Spam Ghetto gave us a unique and interesting spam-based generative wallpaper.

Lots of shades and lamps were dotted throughout the exhibition too, however, the stand out piece of lighting for me was Lasvit‘s Bubbles in Space.  It just looks incredible, and the 320 separate components can be scaled right up to a 4m diameter version that’s available!

Plenty of international graduate work on show too, with 100% Norway, 100% France (namely Elise Fouin) and 100% Italy amongst others all having solid representation.

Running down the centre of the exhibtion were some of the more playful opportunities.  Grohe hijacked JAM’s T2 three-way table to play table tennis with their new shower heads, Blueprint‘s Claystation allowed budding interior designers to create their own “three-dimensional room-set, complete with staircase, doors and windows” from one “ingenious piece of paper engineering”, as well as a custom cardboard chair design.

Other notable mentions include many of the products from Myyour, almost everything in the Hidden Art Design Store and Object Design‘s ergonomic chair rig and 3D CNC machine demonstrations.

Due to 100% Design’s no photo policy most of the pictures here have been borrowed from their Flickr stream.