St Elmo’s sculpture will fire up show
A Nelson artist’s flashing, pulsating neon sculpture based on a strange weather phenomenon will help light up a Wellington festival.
The 4.3 metre, 120kg twist of metal, glass and neon lighting has been created by Anthony Genet for the LUX Light Festival next week.
The sculpture is called St Elmo’s Fire.
A black pole masks a mass of electrical wires where a controlbox feeds five spherical shapes, engineered with squiggly glass tubes. As the tubes flash red, the whole system subtly hums and vibrates.
One of the ‘‘great balls of fire’’ has a smattering of colour which Genet said was to draw people into his work.
‘‘My job is to make things look interesting. I work with the principle that if it’s wrong, it’s right. I like people to be challenged by things.’’
It’s been over a year since the idea to build a ‘‘sculpture of light’’ that represents a natural phenomenon popped into Genet’s mind.
His inspiration came from the tales of St Elmo’s Fire, a weather phenomenon. It occurs atop high points, like masts on a ship, when low-pressure weather systems become electrically charged and create an ionisation in the atmosphere.
The result is a fiery glow that looks like neon. It has been noted throughout history as a sign from God or among sailors as a good omen following poor weather.
For Genet it was a subject to channel his long-term love affair with his chosen artistic medium with science.
‘‘When I was a child my grandmother used to take me into town on a Friday night in Christchurch. I used to love watching the neon signs from Cathedral Square,’’ he said.
The dazzle never faded and it’s been 30-odd years since Genet began experimenting.