Skies light up over Hutt Valley
If you’re in Lower Hutt over Labour Weekend, you may need to keep an eye out for lost aliens. Or one alien at least.
As part of the annual Highlight: Carnival of Lights festival a trio of Wellington designers have put their own twist on the idea of Lost in Space, which includes one very lost alien crash landing in the Hutt.
Alana Inglis, Ashleigh Jenner and Adam Kingsbury have joined with designers from around the country to tackle light-up installations for the annual festival.
The popular festival first ran in 2017, drawing crowds of more than 100,000 to see light installations, firework displays and more.
Earlier this year festival organisers put out a call for designers, asking for their ideas around the theme of ‘‘lost’’, whether that was lost in the wild, in love, or in space.
‘‘When we were brainstorming for the actual proposal to go to Highlight, we immediately gravitated towards Lost in Space as a theme,’’ Inglis said.
From a 1960s aesthetic to the story behind their design, the work came naturally to them as they built two versions of the spaceship: one which crashed in Queensgate and another which will land by the Dowse on Laings Rd.
Inglis said in their ‘‘story’’, after the first crash, the alien receives a parking ticket and tries to move on. After the second crash, it gives up and calls the alien version of AA.
The trio met while studying design at
Victoria University. After graduating they headed their separate ways within the industry but came across a great way to keep in touch. They create designs together.
‘‘We were getting together, the three of us, and ended up entering design competitions,’’ Inglis said.
In the evenings and on the weekends, they would meet in Inglis’ garage and bang out some ideas and actual objects too.
‘‘There’s a real satisfaction to making something with your hands,’’ she said.
Highlight: Carnival Of Lights will run October 25 to 28 in Lower Hutt’s Riddiford Garden. For details, visit highlight.org.nz.