i Light Marina Bay 2016

This year is the 4th edition of i Light Marina Bay, and this year’s event is brighter and seeking to reframe perceptions of light and sustainability, the team hopes to inspire artists and festival-goers to re-imagine and reconsider sustainability issues in a new light and come together to create and sustain a harmonious relationship with the environment.

As a person who likes photography, lights and shadows have always been something fascinating for me. After the first introduction to i Light Marina Bay 2014, this is the second time I am bringing the girls back.

This year the stretch just outside The Shoppes @ Marina Bay Sands, was transformed into a bit like “Artbox” in Bangkok. With small little stalls selling different sorts of arts and stuff. It would be nice to see more of such setups happening in Singapore.

Before we walked through the i Light, we were greeted by this colorfully bright rider, sometimes we are able to see a few other riders together but this night there was only one. Hence, he absorbed all the lime light. He has unofficially became part of the event exhibits.

Ground Control to Major Tom
This multi-colored rocket piece is like a childhood dream coming alive. As simple as it seems, many people were queuing up just to have a look from within, at the world outside. I guess all of us need to see things a little different some times.

Blot
Inspired by how the lightning behaves, this installation aims to bring the irregularity behavior of the lightning closer to earth. By a simple touch of the steel structure, one gets to activates the flashes of the LED tubes attached.

Lampshade
Totally the coolest and most environmentally inspiring piece of installation. During day time, this unique art piece prevents sunlight to shine through and at the same time conserve energy which is used during night time as solar energy enough to power up thousands of lamps.

Shadow Bath
Playing with light and shadows, this is one piece of art I would love to have at home. Maybe a miniature size that could sit nicely in a living room as a coffee table. Imagine the mood it would create at night when you are enjoying a nice glass of wine with your love one. Awesome!

Angels of Freedom
This year, kudos to the organizers for placing many of the light installations against the beautiful Marina Bay night scene. One of which is this angel wing (there are 5 sets of them), and you will be expecting some queue to get your chance for a photo. The halo was a brilliant idea to enhance the structure but also as a great illuminator for the visitor’s face.

Moon Haze
One of the most photographed light installation. The Moon Haze also functions as a monitoring system for air pollutants, picking-up and responding to the ambient air quality – the better the air quality, the brighter the installation. Maybe an idea will be to place this piece on the waters? The reflection will be awesome.

The Cloud
Seriously, I do not understand this art installation. However, this is one of the few installations that captured my attention the most. Maybe it’s the inert nature of man that is drawn towards things we do not understand.

Ping Pong Table
Mini table-tennis tables for visitors to test their skills. About a quarter size of the usual table, this cool piece is lighted underneath with changing lights to create that mystery feel. The game is not about winning, but it’s all about fun and innovation.

There are a few installations that are not really related to lights, but nonetheless it was super creative and simple. The simplicity of the creation amazed me and many others, providing much fun to all.

Started the walk with the multi-colored rider and ended with the same guy on the Helix Bridge.

Heard that i Light Marina Bay will be back starting this year as a yearly event. I’ll raise both hands and legs and shout hurray! Looking forward to more creative installations in 2017.

A Night’s Out at Marina Bay

If you have not visited this year’s i Light Marina Bay 2014 event, then I strongly recommend that you do so before it ends on 30 Mar.

If you have the time and your children are well rested for the night, then I would recommend you to start the walk from Esplanade. Enjoy the beautiful night with beautiful performances at the Outdoor Theatre.

Both my girls loved the music and were actually dancing along with the flute’s beautiful sound. A great lesson for the young ones to exercise freedom and encourage creativity. I envy them for I have never had such opportunities when I was young.

I can only dream…

One of the first light installation you will get to see from here is the Giant Dandelion, designed by a French-Filipino artist, Olivia d’ Aboville. It’s a huge forest of 90 larger-than-life light flowers of varying heights.

On a close look, you will then realise that the lights are actually made of recycled plastic water bottles we see in our everyday life. How creative! Coincidentally, both the girls did a similar pose.

 

 

Some of the installations are just for viewing more than interactive, I will skip those but if you are interested, do check out on the i Light website or my earlier post here.

For children, there prefer those that they can touch and play, like the Cloud installation.

 

Along the way, look out for interesting Uncle bikers who sportingly contributed to the lights around the Marina Bay area.

As we reached the half way point of the 28 light installations, let me recommend you to stop for a while and indulge in the super nice gelato from Au Chocolat, situated at level 1 MBS. You get to choose 4 flavours for the price of $9.20. The children will love you for it, even the wife will love you more!

Continue on towards The Promotory and you will find the next route of light arts.

Beat, done by Singapore designers, the translucent “balls” responds to touch and the colours changes and glows as a single beat. Not too sure if it responds to the shoes, but please don’t spoil the lights Joey.

  

An installation that will definitely consume much time is The Wishing! Tree. Get a free wishing strip and write down your wishes, make sure you drop well and land on the furthest top. A word of caution, it’s not as easy as it seems.

As you pass by the Marina Bay City Gallery, don’t miss out this interactive installation that is inside the hall. Mimosa – an interactive artwork that mimics the “touch-me-not” plant all kids are quite familiar with in the gardens. It was quite fun for Joey as she is tall enough to enjoy the fun, but for Jayne she is slightly short to see the artwork properly, she left with a loud “boring”. Hahaha..

This is really more for the photographers, nothing that interest the girls, but just the idea of watering cans known as “The Guardian Angels”. This is done by two artists from Greece and France, echoing the preservation of the garden and plants and by extension, nature.

I wouldn’t mind having something so beautiful and colourful in my house. Getting ideas for future renovations?

Last but not least, as we walked towards the end of the route, we found the light installations that everyone (both children and adults) loves. It was a good plan to walk through the rest of the installations first, if not, I cannot guarantee that we will finish the entire route.

The Pool – is a group of giant, concentric circles created from interactive circular pads. By entering The Pool, visitors enter a world where play and collaborative movement create swirling effects of light and colour.

Ready – Go!

 

As mentioned in my earlier post on i Light Marina Bay, if you can catch the right timing, be sure to head towards the Helix Bridge to watch the 3-min long Celebration of Life, a light projection on the ArtScience Museum exterior walls.

i Light Marina Bay, daebak!

i Light Marina Bay 2014

Media Invite

As Marina Bay AmBAYssadors, a group of media friends were invited for an exclusive 1-hour guided tour of the i Light Marina Bay 2014.

Festival Info
i Light Marina Bay, Asia’s only sustainable light art festival, returns in 2014 with a new theme Light+heART. The light art festival will feature 28 innovative and environmentally sustainable light art installations from around the world, transforming the Marina Bay Waterfront into a magical space of light and colour for the public to celebrate both public spaces and creativity.

A full array of events, programmes and fun activities have been lined up from 7-30 Mar (7:30pm – 11pm) for the public to spend a relaxing and dazzling night out at the Marina Bay Waterfront. Free guided tours are available, just click on this link to sign up.

Curatorial Team
This year’s festival is helmed by a curatorial team comprising ONG&ONG’s Ms Ong Swee Hong, Mr Andrew Lee and Mr Tai Lee Siang. With a track record of more than four decades in this industry, ONG&ONG offers a complete 360º solution that covers aspect of the construction business. The company aims to engage the public through sustainable light art installations that are thought provoking yet ‘light-hearted’ – bringing home the message on sustainability with unique, happy and heartfelt installations that not only delight but also inspire contemplation. Using Marina Bay as a canvas, invited artists came together and transform Marina Bay into the largest public art gallery.

Festival Map

Sustainability Overview
A key objective of i Light Marina Bay is to advocate environmentally-responsible behaviour for a sustainable future, and to promote Marian Bay as a culturally vibrant and sustainable urban waterfront precinct. A recurring initiative of i Light Marina Bay is the “Switch Off, Turn Up” campaign, where stakeholders in and around Marina Bay are invited to switch off non-essential lighting and turn up air-conditioning temperatures during the festival period.

Installations
Here are some interesting light art installations for your reference.

The Wishing! Tree by The Living! Project (Singapore)
The tree represents the positive hopes and dreams of visitors wishing the best for our world. It encourages everyone to imagine what their perfect world could be like and wish for it on the tree.

Happy Croco by Bibi (France)
A luminous 20m long sculpture, whose backbone is made of traffic cones. This urban crocodile uses types of LEDs and low energy light bulbs. Happy Croco is both a work of land art, design, a light source and a visual art installation. This installation’s relation to the theme comes from the delightful crocodile that the artist brings into the city, but upon closer examination, it is made from our everyday discarded items that have been given a new lease of, and a most delightful, life.

Mimosa by Jason Bruges Studio (United Kingdom)
Mimosa is a interactive artwork displaying behaviour that mimics responsive plant systems. The piece was inspired by the Mimosa family of plants, which change kinetically to suit their environmental conditions.

 

Joujou-Ours by Uno Lai (Taiwan)
Uno believes that interactive arts are not just about technology, but it should reflect simple acts to express love. Inspired by childhood memories of hugging soft toys to sleep, Joujou-Ours is an installation that encourages all to come close and embrace these light installations, and with these close physical interactions, the embedded lights will create a magical kaleidoscope of colours.

   

#WeHeartLight by Light Collective (United Kingdom)
Making light is open to everybody and Light Collective demonstrates this by teaching about 200 locals to each make a simple light box, personalised with images and text, with red as the predominant colour for half of these boxes.

Celebration of Life by Justin Lee with Dorier Asia Pte Ltd (Singapore)
This is a playful commentary on the role and value of traditional culture in our contemporary society. Through the use of pop-art as a playful medium in this work, this installation celebrates Asian values in our modern society through a tongue-in-cheek manner. In this 3D projection installation for the ArtScience Museum, Justin playfully blends traditional Eastern iconography with modern-day symbols of our global capitalist culture. This approach suggests cultural resilience – the ability of Asian culture, to survive, to withstand, to endure, and to adapt to the changing contemporary society.

 

 

Digital Wattle by Out of the Dark (New Zealand)
The artists translate an iconic element of nature from their homeland into an installation. Adapting the form of the Golden Wattle into a series of light installations, the Digital Wattle is a device to explore the interplay between individual ethnic groups co-existing in one city. When the flowers sway gently in the wind, they will slowly change from pure white to different colours to represent the new mix of cultures residing in the city. In the process, it brings a slice of nature into our urban environment.

 

1.26 Singapore by Janet Echelman (USA)
Sustainability can relate to the memory and preservation of the traditional craftsmanship and in 1.26, we see an extreme innovative way of preserving a craft that might be seen an obsolete by most. Janet has been inspired by the traditional craftsmanship of fish net weaving and lace making in the construct of her urban sculptures and has re-interpreted the technique to new heights through the technology that she had utilised, allowing all to appreciate traditional crafts in a new form.
In the piece for i Light Marina Bay 2014, Janet’s luminous 1.26 sculpture will suspend over the floating platform. The form and content has been drawn from observing Earth’s interconnected systems. Echelman used laboratory research from NASA and NOAA which documented the effects of the 2010 earthquake in Chile — the historic shock resulted in the shortening of the earth’s day by 1.26 microseconds, which became the influence for the installation’s name. The colourful volumetric piece takes the shape of a tsunami sweeping across the ocean.
This piece not only reminds us of today’s ever changing face of the earth and the effects natural disasters have on people, but it is also a piece that highlights the courageousness of the survivors and the interconnected populations who are fighting against these effects of climate change in today’s context.

 

Cloud by Caitlind r.c. Brown & Wayne Garrett (Canada)
CLOUD illuminates the curatorial themes of i Light Marina Bay 2014 on a number of levels. As the sculpture is created from both new and recycled materials, combining the aesthetic of incandescent light bulbs with the brilliance of energy-efficient bulbs, CLOUD creates a playful commentary about the changing face of sustainability. While the piece is bright and attractive to audiences, the internal contrast of old and new light technologies provides a critical dialogue about energy, sources of light and sustainable progress, while maintaining an optimistic tone of magic, hope, and beauty.
CLOUD invites strangers to come together beneath a dazzling raincloud and play. The edition planned for the Festival will be a unique evolution of CLOUD incorporating a more playful system of interaction than previous incarnations, encouraging a “light hearted” spirit of exploration and discovery. By pulling on a switch, the viewer is able to trigger a quantifiable shift within the greater aesthetic of CLOUD, visually highlighting the power of an individual’s ability to impact progress and achieve significant change. However, the real magic happens when multiple viewers work as a community towards a unified shift.

Check out the i Light Marina Bay 2014 trailer!

If you are tired and hungry after all the walking, do stop by Pasarbella for a meal, and live music too!

Remember to pop by Marina Bay Waterfront before the end of March 2014, and immerse in the light art festival!