Wellington
LUX Intro
Wellington LUX is a free public light
festival that turns Wellington’s waterfront and laneways into a captivating
celebration of light, art, technology and design. LUX, in partnership with
Massey University and Wellington City Council creates a winter festival for
Wellington.
In 2014 the festival showcased a
fantastical array of light sculptures that wound their way through an urban
light trail within the city’s laneways and then spilt out into a promenade of
light installations along the waterfront. These were accompanied by artist
talks from national and international artists, designers, and researchers; pop
up exhibitions and installations; and fun free activities.
Experience
"[People have] come in and seen them and said 'wow' -
and that was when they weren't even lit up. It's a way to see the city in a
different light."
"It was thinking about who's going to be there at the
gardens and what sort of quality of experience you want them to have, and working
out from there."
Ms Laine said the festival aimed to get people out in the
middle of winter.
''In New Zealand particularly, there are no holidays in
winter. People tend to hide out in their homes and wait it out.''
The summit is bringing people together from around the
world to look at ways to solve environmental problems using technology.
Bennewith says the project is about invigorating and
enlivening the city, encouraging people to look at places in a different way.
Among the illuminated works will be Digital Wattle,
created by Auckland's Fresh Concept. It is a forest of blinking, glimmering
balls of light mimicking the blooms of the wattle tree.
The installations were experiments with ways of presenting
interactive digital art without a computer screen controlled by a mouse or
keyboard. They projected images onto materials so thin they appeared to float
in space.
Founded
Chris Bennewith brought Lux to Wellington in 2011, after
it was founded in Oslo
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
Their goal is for LUX to be an iconic annual event for
Wellington city. It has the potential to create a vibrant community based
experience that will brighten up the winter nights, and at a large
enough scale could be of significant economic benefit to the
region. The Vivid Light Festival in Sydney is an example of what can
be achieved.
LUX is a leading edge light festival, now into its third year, growing
in scale to rival some of the most significant light festivals in the world,
including the renowned Nuit Blanche, Berlin’s Festival of Light and Vivid
Sydney. It is a celebration
of light in the darkness of mid winter.
LUX Festival in New Zealand and its Benefits
New Zealand needs to be responding to the increasing role of technology
in our modern world. LUX will help Wellington to achieve global recognition as
a creative digital city with highly visible installations and a cutting edge
international symposium. It will also provide greater access to new technology
and new media arts for children, young people and the general public. Children
and adults will also be exposed to contemporary work previously unavailable in
New Zealand, including inspiring interactive works and events. LUX is a leading
edge light festival, now into its third year, growing in scale to rival some of
the most significant light festivals in the world, including the renowned Nuit
Blanche, Berlin’s Festival of Light and Vivid Sydney. Revolving around the
celebration of Matariki, LUX embraces the distinct identity of Aotearoa,
expanding Maori astronomy into the realms of innovation, design and technology.
LUX is the convergence point for all these sectors with Wellington’s waterfront
and laneways the perfect blank canvas. Our aim is to create a long lasting
cultural event on Wellington’s winter calendar that is accessible to the whole
family, growing in reputation every year to become an iconic event for the
capital and revered by an international audience.
http://www.boosted.org.nz/projects/wellington-lux-winter-light-festival
-Rebecca
