Sonio Kolesnikov-Jessop The New York Times 1 Sep 10;
SINGAPORE — Light festivals, which have become increasingly popular over the past decade, usually focus on light as an art medium. But Mary-Anne Kyriakou, a lighting director and artist, founded Smart Light Sydney last year as a low-energy light festival with an environmental message, and she is now working on a similar event in Singapore.
The Singapore event, I Light Marina Bay, which will run from Oct. 15 to Nov. 7, will feature a Light Walk with more than 20 illuminated art installations and sculptures as well as interactive and performance-based displays. But a primary aim will be to raise awareness of energy-saving lighting technology.
“I believe it is important to show that spectacular lighting effects do not necessarily require vast amounts of electric power, a commodity which we must learn to monitor for ecological and sustainability reasons,” said the Australian artist Warren Langley, whose work will be displayed. “While the objects I create are first and foremost artworks, they have an inherent message as well.”
Mr. Langley’s “Singapore Flora” uses continuous LED light cable to construct flowerlike shapes inside a steel vase.
“Each ‘petal’ in the flowers runs on one watt only, while the spiral shapes in the sculpture run on around four to five watts per meter,” Mr. Langley said. “This is an extraordinarily small amount of power for such a dramatic lighting effect.”
Other low-energy installations include an artwork that uses solar-powered LED lights, and another that relies on kinetic energy generated by hand cranks to power four fishing-rod-like fiber optic poles — an allusion to Singapore’s past as a fishing village — mounted on the balustrades of the Helix Bridge, a new, illuminated pedestrian bridge that leads to the glitzy Marina Bay Sands casino resort.
In Sydney, Ms. Kyriakou persuaded the occupants of two office buildings to switch off their lights every night after 7 p.m, a small gesture that she said would offset the festival’s use of power for light.
She says she hopes to do something similar in Singapore, but concedes that she may face an uphill battle. Marina Bay is flanked by the skyscrapers of the central business district, by the historic Fullerton Hotel — spectacularly lit at night, and by the new integrated resort with its sky park, a potentially iconic addition to the night skyline.
Still, “we need to raise awareness,” Ms. Kyriakou said. “Sustainability needs to occur through behavioral changes.”
