In the Dark - Conceptual LED Light Installation

Sep 14, 2020
2 min read

INSPIRATION

I have always really enjoyed large scale interactive pieces that use lights as one of their main components. Pieces like the famous Infinity Mirrors by Yayoi Kasama and Pixel Forest by Pipilotti Rist have always captivated me. I think they are absolutely beautiful, magical, and bring so much joy.

I love these pieces and found heavy inspiration in them but wanted to bring something with a little more focus on human interactions.

IN THE DARK

In the Dark will be an interactive light instalment that consists of a long central room with smaller attached rooms on either side. One person on each side of the piece will enter into the smaller room. This will be all white inside with very bright lights, it will be a little and simple maze that they must navigate through, once they reach the end they will move into a larger pitch black room. Each person on each side. The room is filled with strings of little lights that hang down like curtain beads and light up when they are moved/in motion. So as the people move through the hanging lights they will light up. Once the lights are still they will go dark.

Eventually the guests would see the lights lighting up on the other side, and could make the assumption that another person was there. Then they could make the option to avoid the other person or meet them. If they choose to meet and the two flows of light meet a special light reaction will happen where they glow bright around the two people and pulse the other lights all flickering around them in the distance, as they part the lights would return to acting normal. Also if it was in a large enough space that could have a viewing platform I think it would be cool to let people who already experienced it choose to watch others from above.

I think people will find the lights annoying, harsh , and overpowering in the all bright white light rooms and then when they walk in instantly feel soothed but also possibly curious or even afraid to be in complete darkness so suddenly. As they start to move though the little light curtains would start to move and light up around them and I hope that this would bring joy but also an appreciation of light, even if they just scorned it for being too bright and annoying a moment ago in the previous room.

This piece could speak to multiple levels of social interaction. I really like the idea of being able to see a stranger is in the same space as you and are coming towards you or avoiding you but you can't really see who they are. Your decision on meeting them or avoiding them can't be made off of judgments or appearances, but rather do you want to interact or meet this mystery person or not. Overall I think the space itself would be very aesthetically pleasing and be a very magical experience for those who participate and those who are watching, and I think the social aspect would be really neat to observe as well.