LIGHTING UP SINGAPORE
They look like tall trees studded with glowing fruit, but the light installation by artists from the Living Spirits group — representing Thailand — call their creation Chandelier Of Spirits, and it’s one of the luminous pieces showing at “I Light Marina Bay 2018”, a light-art festival taking place in Singapore until April 1.
Sasis Suwonpakprak, founder of Living Spirits, said he and his team submitted their design to the festival last year and were selected for the programme. “Our original proposal was something smaller — just one ‘tree’, but they liked the idea so much and asked us to make three.”
In line with the sustainable principle of the festival, the shining fruits on those trees are made of recycled cold-brew coffee bottles. Sasis and his team got those glass bottles from coffee companies in Singapore, which normally reuses them as containers. In each bottle, a simple sensor device is installed to a lead coil, on which tiny bulbs are attached. An interactive art piece, the bottles will illuminate automatically when people approach them — the more people under the trees, the brighter the show.
There are over a thousand bottles suspended on the three trees of Chandelier Of Spirits.
“Coffee is an essential drink for many office workers in Singapore and Thailand, and it contributes to the country’s growth and success,” said the Thai team. “It’s a symbol of hard-working and can-do spirit. The installation lights up the city after sunset, the same way they light up our energy during the daytime.”
I Light Marina Bay showcases 22 light-art installations from 14 countries. Besides the Thai designs, three pieces have been created with used bottles and containers. Transistable Plastic by Luzinterruptus from Spain is a large-scale work made from multiple panels encased in plastic waste. Milk Bottle by Singapore-based BP Loh creates life-size cows from 2,000 plastic milk bottles.
The light festival is running until April 1, 7.30-11pm, around the Marina Bay Waterfront, Singapore.