Installation creates prison of light

An amazing light installation that was on display at the Mapping Festival, which took place in Geneva between the 2nd - 12th May this year, trapped visitors in a prison of light.

Isotopes v.2 by Nonotak Studio was inspired by events surrounding the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami back in 2009. The result of this natural disaster led to a meltdown at the Fukushima's nuclear power plant, an event classed as a Level 7 Disaster, the highest level issued by the government.

The installation is an open space that slowly surrounds the visitor in a barrier of intense light, a play on human-kinds approach to nuclear power.

Watch a video of the installation in action below and for more information click here.

The best in Neon

London-based light artist Chris Bracey is currently displaying his works in his first solo exhibition at Scream Gallery in London titled 'I've looked up to heaven and been down to hell'.

The artist, who learnt his trade from his father, has manipulated his lights into incredible designs using themes he mixes with religious iconography, retro fairground bulbs and neon advertising styles.

Bracey has also provided dramatic installations for films such as Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Batman films.

Many of Bracey’s works are self-produced neons, referencing popular culture – “Shine A Light in the Darkness of Your Soul” was written by Martin Gore from Depeche Mode and “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” is from a song by The Smiths.

His work also draws upon iconic imagery such as tattoo designs, Las Vegas and Soho.

The exhibition is on display until the 1st June 2013.

LED flowers for film festival opening

A new LED installation has been designed and fabricated by BWArchitects for the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.

1,600 LED bulbs were made into pink and blue “flowers”, swaying in the wind at night on the courthouse steps in NYC. 

The reusable flowers were made by hand over several days and mounted to painted wood boards held in place by sandbags. For the opening ceremony a field of the swaying LED 'flowers' was mounted to thin metal rods, once the lights were activated, the wind provided the movement at different rates due to the varied lengths of steel.

Justin Weiner of Studio Kenji created a short video of the installation which can be seen below.

Tribeca Film Festival Lighting Installation from Justin Weiner on Vimeo.

The Shed at the National Theatre

A new temporary venue has been built on an unused plaza  of the National Theatre in London.

Called 'The Shed', the venue will show new productions that it deems "adventurous, ambitious and unexpected".

Open for a year from April, The Shed provides a new way to watch theatre, offering seats from £12 up to £20, with special days planned, including talks before or after shows. 

Seats are either located at stage level or in a gallery providing patrons with an intimate view of the productions.

The building was designed and built by Haworth Tompkins, who are also incharge of the current redesign materplan for the artistic hub, and the design would seem to match the type of productiosn they plan to put on, with its vibrant colour and shape.

To find out more watch a video of lead architect Paddy Dillon talking about the design below.

haworth tompkins: the shed at the national theater, london from designboom on Vimeo.

PuLSaTe pop-up installation

Architects Lily Jencks and Nathanael Dorent have been commissioned by Capitol Designer Studio to design a unique pop-up installation in London called PuLSaTe.

Using Marazzi’s SistemN tiles, from a range stocked by Capitol, they fitted out a showroom in Primrose Hill to create PuLSaTe, a pop-up installation that will not only show off the uses and colours of the tiles but also provide a cultural hub.

The zig-zag design, along with sloped floors, plays with your perception. Benches built into the walls of the installation become a consumer experience like no other. The pop-up installation on Chalcot Road, opened on the 21st March and will remain open, running a variety events including workshops, until 27th October 2013.

Take a look at a video about the project below.

Pulsate from STRIPE on Vimeo.

Christo's big air package

Big Air Package from Christo opened this month at the Gasometer Oberhausen, Germany. 

It is reported to be both the largest inflated frameless envelope and the most expansive indoor sculpture ever created.

The 90 meter high inflatable boasts a volume of 177,000 cubic meters and uses 20,350 square meters of semitransparent polyester fabric as well as 4,500 meters of rope. Despite lacking a skeleton the 5 ton form fills the interior of a former gas tank.

Christo describes the experience as 'virtually swimming in light' as a result of the vast expanses of fabric, lit from above via skylights in the Gasometer.

Filled with diffused natural daylight and muffled sounds it becomes a place of tranquility.

The project runs until 30th December 2013.

Photos: Wolfgang Volz © 2013 Christo

What happens when 15,000 Volts travels through wood

New York City's Pratt Institute sculpture student Melanie Hoff wanted to find out so she connected cables carrying 15,000 volts of electricity to a large plank of wood and then documented the results.

Surprisingly the areas around each contact point don’t simply catch on fire or burn in a circle, but rather traverse outward in a fractal-like pattern called a "Lichtenberg figure", similar to what happens when lightening hits an object. 

The amazing patterns created were captured in a video shown below.

Sonic fountain

Ever felt that the sound of water dripping was slightly rhythmic and musical? If not you may want to reconsider after seeing the new installation at the 303 gallery in New York by American artist Doug Aitken.

The piece, called Sonic Fountain, is part of the gallery's 100 Years exhibition and features five rods that drip water into a pool below. The dripping is not random; it is released at special intervals to create a variety of patterns and shapes, with the sound amplified by the location and the pool itself having been specially excavated out of the floor of the gallery.

The piece is quiet and tranquil with a milky white glow coming from the pool and a breath like rhythm from the water drops.

Watch a video of the exhibition below.

Spotted in Rotterdam

Things have gone a bit dotty on the streets of Rotterdam.

Dutch art studio Vollaerszwart  has created a new installation called Let’s Stick Together, that has livened up the city streets with 50 000 fluorescent pink stickers as part of the De Wereld van Witte de With art festival.

See more here on Boredpanda.com

A musical swinging experience

An unintentional Montreal theme continues with this post looking at a new installation of 21 Swings that combined to create beautiful music.

21 Swings offers a fresh look at the 'idea of cooperation and the notion that we can achieve more together than separately'. In essence it is a giant instrument that is made of 21 musical swings with each swing triggering different notes when in motion.

All the swings together compose a unique piece of music, but some sounds and notes can only emerge from cooperation and synced movement to reveal the installations true potential.

The project was created by Daily Tous Les Jours who are developing a travelling version of installation to take around the world.

See more of this great installation below and read more here at http://dailytouslesjours.com/

21 Balançoires (21 Swings) from Daily Tous Les Jours on Vimeo.

Push-Up bus comes to London

Czech artist David Cerny has brought his London bus that does push ups to Islington in time for the Olympics.

He created The London Booster by attaching huge arms, suspension mechanics and adding groaning sound effects to the 1957 double decker bus.

The Czech artist commented that the piece could be seen as ironic because push-ups are "a common exercise for every sportsman" but also punishment.

It has been placed outside the Czech team headquarters in Islington, London for the duration of the games.

See it in action below:

Kinetic rain installation stuns at Changi Airport

A quite beautiful installation has come to Changi Airport, Singapore by Art+ Com, a German media installation design practice.

This kinetic sculpture represents the rain and has great aesthetic appeal with 1,216 individual raindrops in bronze.

The piece gently undulates and then accelerating rapidly into a chaotic deluge. The summer downpour has never looked so good.

Take a look at the video below.

Letting Go in Minneapolis

This large-scale installation called 'Letting Go' spans two floors at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

It was meticulously created over three months by Minneapolis-based graffiti artist Hottea from 14,000 individual strands of yarn at 32 ft long each, a total of 82 miles.

The piece celebrates Hottea's interpretation of the sun through the vivid fusion of orange, yellow and red colors in the work.

See more here on Design Boom.

BE OPEN Sound Portal launched in Trafalgar Square

As part of this September's Design Week the BE OPEN Sound Portal will appear in Trafalgar Square, London.

This is an entirely new kind of installation that focuses on the design that you can’t see – that of acoustics and sound – rather than visual spectacle.

The black, rubberised structure will be home to finely-tuned audio technologies aimed at delivering pure acoustic experiences to visitors and every day the BE OPEN Sound Portal will host one of five leading musicians and sound artists, each of whom has been specially commissioned to create a unique soundscape.

The BE OPEN Foundation, a global initiative to foster creativity and innovation, and the London Design Festival are co-producing the project and the structure has been designed by Arup, world leaders in the area of acoustic engineering.

To find out more about this unique installation visit 'Design you Trust' or visit www.beopenfuture.com.

Giant post-it note mural

In a bid to make the world's largest stop motion video, Madrid artist, Eduardo Zamarro has created an installation made entirely with post-it notes.

Over 1,000,000 notes were used for the mural and 20 people were involved in the creating this great installation.

Over 15 days they created 135 different designs with 27,000 notes on each mural. After the installation was removed the notes were recycled as filler for bean bags.

Find out and see more on Design Boom and view the final video below.

A river of LED light in Tokyo

Ever wondered what 100,000 solar-powered LED spheres look like floating down a river then wonder no more.

As part of the Tokyo Hotaru Festival held in May 100,000 blue glowing spheres were floated down the river, lighting it as they passed. It was designed to be reminiscent of a swarm of fireflies and to capture the way nature intended to brighten up our surroundings.

Front row tickets were a sell out and the spheres were eventually caught downstream in giant nets, ensuring no pollution. 

What a sight.