The January Blues?
Our team at Four-by-Two decided to lighten up what is sometimes referred to as ‘the January blues’, by attending Lumiere London, the UK’s largest lighting festival, organised by Artichoke; a leading arts charity. Artichoke works with artists to create unique, ephemeral, large-scale art pieces, events and experiences with the aim of transforming people’s way of seeing the world.
During Lumiere, London’s night-time streets filled with dazzling light installations, creating a magical, almost out-of-body experience for onlookers.
So, we set out on a journey to discover the nocturnal gems of this festival and we were indeed mesmerized. One of our favourite finds was Aether by Max Cooper, an installation creating a three-dimensional lattice of light synchronised to an immersive audio experience. Colour and light projections by Patrice Warrener transformed Westminster Abbey’s 20th century martyr statuettes into kaleidoscopic illuminations. In Trafalgar Square, Childhood by Collectif Coin had dozens of luminous balloons playfully wafting in the wind, dancing and blinking to music. While in Granary Square, Waterlicht by Daan Roosegaarde enveloped us with a dream-like fog with colours criss-crossing its path, creating a virtual flood.
What a strange thing light is. It feels like a crossing-point between different worlds: the digital and the physical worlds. Light combined with sound and influenced by the randomness of meteorological and natural elements, as seen at Lumiere festival, provided an unforgettable performance for us. Having been completely hypnotised and inspired by so many extraordinary light creations, we woke from this surreal dream once again in a freezing January night.
