Lighting Festival
For over a year now, all the lighting consultants from Boston to Providence – over 35 of us — have been working on a lighting festival for Boston, christened illuminaleBOSTON08.
Patterned after Luminale, a much bigger festival accompanying a massive, every-two-years trade show in Frankfurt, ours was originally slated to coincide with the May 2008 AIA convention, but city politics presented a denser thicket than imagined and we failed to get ready for that date. Serendipitously, a better date presented itself – the City of Boston had scheduled an outdoor party to celebrate the “completion†and handover of the Rose Kennedy Greenway for October 4th and asked that we put up our festival around that. Darker sooner, a captive audience, City alignment – more better. So we did.
The tale of getting there — the obstacles overcome, the favor chips cashed, the debts incurred, the vast amounts of meetings and work — would take a novella. Suffice it to say that it was a more massive undertaking than we could have imagined, and we were called far beyond any commitments we thought we’d made. It almost crashed and burned many times, and frictions threatened to sabotage it. But when it was turned on in a ceremony with Mayor Menino “throwing the switch†at Rowe’s Wharf on the 1st of October, and we got to drive and wander around and see the 10 sites we’d all done, it was pretty thrilling. The Custom House tower, not quite complete when the pictures were taken, and the Moakley bridge are permanent things, and there are already noises about implementing two of the other sites permanently as well.
It only ran 5 days and is already over. I apologize for telling about this after the fact – it was pretty all-consuming at the time, and what advance notice I did give at the time didn’t inspire a wider broadcast. But at least I took pictures. Of some sites, anyway — mostly my own, including some behind-the-scenes prep work (Site 6, the Congress Street bridge, executed in conjunction with Horton Lees Brogden Lighting). One can see a great deal many more by going to Flickr and searching for “illuminale†– you’ll get 16 pages of images; every night I was out there I was tripping over tripods – all the city’s nocturnal shutterbugs were busy. One in particular, though, and that could only be seen opening night (perhaps the best story of the festival – but for another time) is this, which my partner Lukas did in conjunction with Sladen Feinstein Lighting.
And there it all is — a glimpse into a unique, exhausting but rewarding chapter in the lives of Boston’s lighting community. For those further interested, also check out the festival’s website – in particular, if you scroll right for each site under the Sites link, that’ll show you some before images of each site, a few the sketches and renderings done by each team, and photos and bios of the team personnel. Enjoy!
Adam
A beautiful celebration of light. My belated kudos, Adam.
You are the Prince of Light!
However, as much as I enjoy light festivals in cities, my astronomical instincts make me worry that we are losing sights such as this, which were always available to the ancients, and less available to modern Americans. (You can call me a Devotee of Darkness!)
Comment by rakkity — October 24, 2008 @ 6:14 pm
Your sensitivities were on our minds, good sir rakkity, as were migratory birds. And the city had just instituted a most-lights-off-after-11:00 policy in an attempt to cut down on energy use and light pollution, so we also had our lights turned off at 11:00 each night. Except for the moving seachlights, every site was done with many low-wattage sources that would not confuse birds (mine was even a sort of sea-turtle-invisible yellow, though my inspiration was more Christo’s Gates) that hopefully worked around birds.
I’ve generally felt that light leaking from windows and bouncing off pavement will always prevent sights such as the magnificent time exposure you offer. We should be careful, no doubt, but the fabric of a city offers so much beauty lost to darkness, and the cost in sky brightness is already there, that I feel the balance tilted towards allowing judicious profligacy. Where the balance is or can be other, I’m all for stars — they’re a huge draw to our (almost) annual camping trips, always one of the most memorable moments when the clouds don’t thwart them.
Comment by adam — October 25, 2008 @ 8:06 am
I’m really impressed that Boston instituted a lights-off-after 11 policy, and the town’s sensitivity to birds. Never thought of the problem that birds might have with lights, so you’re way ahead of me, environment-wise.
Comment by rakkity — October 25, 2008 @ 8:08 pm
Massachusetts Audubon society – my employer – was the instigator of the “lights out” initiative. (Forgive us, Adam). Contrary to what one might expect – migrating birds get attracted to lighted buildings. And in many cities there are scientists who measure the impact of lit buildings by picking up dead birds in the morning (and you thought your job was tough).
But major kudos to Adams team who jumped right in and agreed to cut their show short by one hour each night in order to meet 11 PM policy. Lovely when we can all work together.
Comment by BirdBrain — October 27, 2008 @ 4:37 pm
Adam, your message implicitly raises the question, “What does a human eye see in the sky when it’s really dark?” (Apropos a “time exposure” in THAT photo I linked to.) That picture certainly must have had some time exposure with a tracking camera. My own experience is that it takes about a minute-long exposure at ISO 1000, f/2 to get a sky picture that your dark-adapted eye will see. The fore-mentioned shot sees “deeper” than an average naked eye can, but THIS one shows pretty much what the average Joe Camper would see on a dark Canyonlands night. Back-country Maine nights might be almost as good.
Comment by rakkity — October 27, 2008 @ 5:44 pm
So today…I got a chance to actually look at your photos, Adam. Wow. This is just beautiful. I can not believe how the city was morphed into such a beautiful, magical landscape. I really wish I had gotten down there. I particularly love what was done on pedestrian bridge. I’ve been back and cross that recently quite a bit, and it’s was grim….now beautiful… I think I love the “cogs” picture best.
Thanks for sharing these. Will Luminale be done again??
Comment by BirdBrain — October 29, 2008 @ 5:04 pm
Thanks, KO! You should have seen people dancing on that bridge (Northern Avenue) — each night there were DJs pumping Latin Salsa for an enthusiastic crowd …
Yes, the festival has aspirations of being a yearly thing, though it was SO hard to bring to fruition and so much work simply scheming, arranging, installing and striking each installation that at the moment none of us can fathom doing it again. But if it does, I’ll give advance notice next time (and to a broader audience than a certain curmudgeonly few … ).
Comment by adam — October 29, 2008 @ 5:57 pm
Yes, this is a wondrous thing. I’m sad I didn’t get it together to see it in person. It is neat to see light bring out details I wouldn’t notice or think about.
The thing is, though, that I can’t really get my mind around the amount of time and presumably money spent on something so etherial. On one hand, it would make a little more sense to me if it were permanent or at least annual and therefore routine. But I can certainly comprehend it being so hard to make arrangements and installations that there’s not enough energy to cause it to happen again soon. (On a much MUCH smaller scale, and in an entirely different arena and medium, I’ve sometimes organized a “Mix It Up At Lunch” day at school, during which students sit randomly instead of in their usual (often clique-y) groups. I feel strongly that such a thing only works if it’s well planned and everyone can choose whether or not to participate, and I’ve figured out how to do that, and make it work. 1/3 to 2/5ths of the students have chosen to participate the two times I’ve organized it, and experiences have generally been positive — and always non-negative. It was easier to pull it off the second time, and it WOULD be even easier still if I did it at least once a year so that people would remember how it “works” … but it’s enough of a pain that I’ve only managed it once every two years so far. And this is the second year, again …
Comment by Jennnnn — October 30, 2008 @ 9:06 pm
The intent always WAS to have it be annual, we’re just still in shock (and debt) over how hard it actually was to pull off. And I’d agree — if this is what you’re implying — that unless one does it again, there’s no way to know whether the learning curve eases and levels out.
As to the ratio of effort-and-expense to duration, no question it’s madness, but it was pretty darned cool, and if the example leads to better lighting in the city, well then it will have had a lasting effect, too.
Comment by adam — October 31, 2008 @ 7:45 am
Maybe you can make it an event like First Night! Surely with a little more advance advertising, next time Boston will draw in more out-of-towners, bringing in some business money.
Comment by rakkity — October 31, 2008 @ 3:49 pm
and yet, art for arts sake is often a good enough reason.
Even if it is just once.
I confess I’m a big fan
of certain environmental artists (Andy Goldsworthy for instance)…
Comment by bird brain — November 3, 2008 @ 8:10 pm
Andy Goldsworthy completely rocks. Everything about the process and the results is magical. I once tried to emulate one of his water’s edge, interlaced twig fence-ey sculptures at Lobster Pond on one of our fall camping trips (but poorly — it’s not as infallible as he makes it seem, nor is photographing teh result).
But his is a private art. Were it not for the coffee-table-book photographs, few, if any, would see it. The deep quiet the inspiration requires, the untrammelled raw material and site needs all obviate any spectators (though I’ve read he’s now done some urban installations).
We could weakly argue that we aspired to some vaguely analogous site-specific opportunism, but we were neither so introspective nor so independent, leaning heavily on the imported materials and labors of others.
Comment by el Kib — November 4, 2008 @ 10:05 am
Speaking of arts for arts sake … I have some wacky ideas about emulating astronomical objects with lighting. Let me know if you’re interested, Adam.
Comment by rakkity — November 4, 2008 @ 3:08 pm
How could I NOT be … ? Whether in blog public or offline, ask away!
Comment by adam — November 4, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
Remember, I said wacky…
Some of these could be done with lights directed outward from a building, others with fields of color projected from one building to another.
– How about a constellation mapped using small appropriately colored lights on the side of an otherwise dark building?
– Or a progression of constellations, changing with time as if the zodiac were passing across the building?
– A selection of the legacy Hubble nebulae, each using projections of colored swaths?
– An orrery of planets sweeping around the Sun?
– The Sun throwing off a mass ejection?
– A simulation of the rising and setting of the Sun over the course of a year, sped up 1000x?
I could go on and on. Some things are impractical, others relatively easy. Probably, the lighting effects would have to be synced with appropriate darkness.
Comment by rakkity — November 5, 2008 @ 12:04 am
Monica, Jefferson was from Wonderland, which was a whole different world from FTL, and the curse aeefctfd him differently than it did anyone else. He always remembered who he was. So maybe his daughter might not have been aeefctfd in the same way everyone else was maybe she didn’t wake up when the curse was broken??The scene with Jefferson left a lot of unanswered questions. Why did his car turn over? Where was he going when he crashed? Why did he have the tea set and the stuffed bunny? Why did he run away from David? I’m leaning towards thinking that someone kidnapped Pinocchio while he was still immobilized though he may have turned all the way back into a man and walked out himself.Robin, I agree the episode was creepy, but I thought it was good kind of creepy. Tara and Princess Donna I’m going to agree more with Tara here. I think that David/Prince Charming is a relatively bland character. I think the evil characters Rumpel and Regina are the most vivid in the show, followed by the kick-ass Snow. I do find the new, feistier David more interesting than the pre-curse-breaking David the new David is not as swashbuckling as the FTL Prince and not as cowardly as the old David, but something of a combination of the two. I also like the way he’s become a reluctant leader which reminds me of some aspects of LOST (I may write more about that later). But even the new David is not as fascinating to me as Rumpel, Regina, and Snow and that may have something to do with the acting, I think Josh Dallas is doing a good job, but Robert Carlyle, Lana Parrilla, and Ginnifer Goodwin take it to a whole other level.
Comment by Dawfasg — October 24, 2015 @ 5:33 pm
Full of salient points. Don’t stop believing or writing!
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