LIGHT ART INSTALLATION DESIGN
A theoretical temporary art installation for the Waller Creek Show, 2020 (judging suspended due to coronavirus)
Waterloo Greenway between 9th and 12th Street, Austin, TX USA
Artwork Budget: $5000
Created as part of a team with Chris Hawley, Johnny Hagaman, Allison Beyer & Patrick Beyer
“Creek Show brings light-based installations that will inspire, delight, and engage the public along Waller Creek. Creek Show will continue to highlight the potential of innovative, temporary, small-scale installations to bring attention to Waterloo Greenway’s mission”.
Waller Creek is a series of interconnected parks and pathways located along the creek that snakes through the heart of downtown Austin. Our installation, Insecurity is inspired by the feeling of vulnerability experienced at Waller Creek during the night. Waller Creek can feel dark and uninviting. The common solution to this is to light these outdoor spaces as a means to deter criminality and make people feel safe at night. The harsh quality of traditional security lighting deters lingering in these spaces often adding, rather than detracting from the feeling of insecurity.
What we want to do is turn this idea on it’s head; taking this often negative connotation of spaces at night and making it a positive experience. Igniting curiosity rather than deterrence. To achieve this, we have chosen to take a common vehicle for security lighting, the wall pack, and use it to create a fun space. The Creek Show participants will encounter what looks like a normal tunnel, lit by bright security lights. As they enter the space, visitors will notice their bodies create a halo of rainbow shadows projected onto the canvas-like wall. Participants are encouraged to interact in beautiful ways with the light. The more people moving by the lighting, the more shadows are created and the more they begin to interact producing a range of colors.
The art of the piece is created using the scientific principle of additive color. White light is the combination of red, blue, and green wavelengths known as bands. When equal parts of red, blue, and green bands are added to one another, white light is created. By standing in front of the light, you are blocking some of these wavelengths, resulting in the different colors. This effect based in science, appears magical which is intriguing to adults and children alike. Our hope is that this may further ignite people’s curiosity about their world.