Field of Light
The Field of Light is a large-scale site-specific light-based installation created by British artist Bruce Munro.
The sculpture slowly changes colour, creating a shimmering field of light.[1]
Field of Light was originally conceived in 1992, when Munro took a farewell road trip through central Australia with his fiancée (now wife), prior to their return to England, camping at Uluru/Ayer's Rock. To Munro, the red desert had an incredible feeling of energy, ideas seemed to radiate from it along with the heat. "There was a charge in the air that gave me a very immediate feeling which I didn’t fully understand, the artist said, "It was a moment when I felt at one with the world[2]....I recorded thoughts of creating a sculpture on a landscape scale, incongruous in size and location, and experienced by the transient visitors...I saw in my mind a landscape of illuminated stems that, like dormant seeds in a dry desert, quietly wait until darkness falls, under a blazing blanket of southern stars, to bloom with gentle rhythms of light." The Field of Light installation was one idea that landed in the artist's sketch book and refused to dislodge from his mind, until finally realized for the first time in 2004.[3]'
Munro made his first prototype Field of LIght for London's Harvey Nichols department store. Shortly after Field of Light was exhibited at the ''Brilliant!'' Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2004, Munro developed a larger version of the installation for Long Knoll Field in Wiltshire –a field adjacent to his studio that is bisected by a public footpath.[4] Subsequently Munro has continued to produce site-specific iterations of the artwork in a number of places, often as one element among many within a large solo exhibition.
The Field of Light has been installed at:
- Eden Project, Cornwall, England. 2008–2009.[5]
- Holburne Museum, Bath, England. 2011–2012.
- Longwood Gardens, Kennet Square, PA, USA. (Forest of Light and Field of Light) June–October 2012.[6]
- Waddesdon Manor, the Rothschild Collection, Aylesbury, England. (River of Light, and Field of Light) Annual Exhibition Residency, 2012-2016[7]
- Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Museum of Art, Nashville, TN, USA May-November 2013[8]
- Franklin Park Conservatory, Columbus, OH, USA. October-2013-March 2014
- St Andrews Square, Edinburgh, Scotland. Commissioned by the City of Edinburgh Council. February-April 2014[9]
- Parque Lincoln, Simbionte Festival, Mexico City, Mexico. April 2014
- Discovery Green, Houston, TX, USA. November. Commissioned by Discovery Green Conservancy. 2014–February 2015 and November 2015–February 2016.[10]
- Atlanta Botanical Garden, (Forest of Light) Atlanta, GA, USA. April-October 2015[11]
- Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ, USA. November 2015-May 2016[12]
In 2015, Munro was invited to return to Uluru to create the installation there, at the place of its inspiration. To be exhibited April 1, 2016 through March 31, 2018, it is Munro’s largest iteration of the artwork and the first to be solar-powered. The host for the exhibition is Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) that manages tourism and resorts on its behalf. Profits from all business activities are re-invested in the Indigenous and resorts.
References
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/content/articles/2005/12/08/field_of_light_feature.shtml
- ↑ Ruiz, Cristina (February 23, 2016). "Art Newspaper".
- ↑ http://www.brucemunro.co.uk/field.asp
- ↑ Dewdney, Christopher (2012). Light: Installations by Bruce Munro, 2012. Longwood Gardens (Exhibition Catalogue). p. 58.
- ↑ http://www.edenproject.com/whats-on/arts/eden-art-exhibition-bruce-munro.php
- ↑ Higgins, Adrian (19 September 2012). "At Longwood Gardens, Bruce Munro sees the light". Washington Post.
- ↑ Gazsi, Mélina (31 July 2013). "Manoir, mon beau manoir". Le Monde.
- ↑ Jones,, MiChelle (24 May 2013). "Cheekwood sets summer nights aglow with Bruce Munro's 'Light'". The Tennessean.
- ↑ Rory, Reynolds (January 23, 2014). "Edinburgh set for Field of Light art installation". The Scotsman.
- ↑ "Discovery Green sees the light with new art installation". Houston Chronicle. November 21, 2014.
- ↑ Joiner, Dorothy (Summer 2015). "Bruce Munro at Atlanta Botanical Garden". World Sculpture News: 59–60.
- ↑ Wilczek, Frank (February 26, 2016). "What Would It Be Like to Walk Through the Mind? Physicist Frank Wilczek on a mind-bending experience in the desert". Wall Street Journal.
External links
- brucemunro.co.uk — Bruce Munro's official website
- fieldoflight.co.uk — Field of Light page, Bruve Munro websitewebsite
- EdenProject.com — The Eden Projects official website
- — The Telegraph on the Holburne Museum
- http://light.longwoodgardens.org/light/installations/field-of-light-Longwood Gardens Light: Installations by Bruce Munro website
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcY6AoJJEhY Bruce Munro: Winter Light, Waddesdon Manor, 2013
- Field of Light, Holburne Museum, Bath
- Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek's Aha Moment at 'Field of Light'http://www.wsj.com/video/nobel-laureate-frank-wilczek-aha-moment-at-field-of-light/3404331D-ED39-41DC-8189-D00C39B2361B.html
- The Creators Project, Vice Media "A Field of 20,000 Glowing Lights | Bruce Munro at Cheekwood" - YouTube