Platinum Lighting Projects and Light Art Design · 2024
Tender Soul of Ocean Lighting Installation
by Whyixd
- A' Design Award 2024 Platinum Winner in Lighting Projects and Light Art Design
- Awarded April 15, 2024
- CLIENT: Whyixd
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 1,516,233
- Verification code 0BDD19955A · Verify this award
About Tender Soul of Ocean Lighting Installation
Tender soul of ocean blends technology, nature, and humanity. It translates hidden environmental cues into visible lights, emphasizing nature's messages. Placed along the coastline, it showcases flowing lights' beauty, adjusting instantly to the wind's force and direction, revealing subtle sea breeze shifts. This fusion of tech and nature sparks contemplation on the natural world's dialogues, unveiling the profound link between humanity and the environment.
WHYIXD's Tender Soul of Ocean Lighting Installation emerges from the contemporary tradition of experiential light art that transforms architectural and environmental space through the poetic manipulation of artificial illumination, positioning itself within a lineage that includes the perceptual investigations of Light and Space movement practitioners alongside the theatrical environmental interventions characteristic of twenty-first century public installation practice. The work demonstrates exceptional technical accomplishment in its orchestration of individually addressable luminous elements suspended within a minimal orthogonal framework, achieving a complex three-dimensional waveform that appears to capture the essential movement vocabulary of ocean swells through static yet rhythmically organized vertical tubes whose varying heights trace the mathematical curves of water in motion. The chromatic strategy proves particularly sophisticated, with warm golden-amber illumination selected to maximize visual impact against the cool blue atmospheric conditions of twilight, establishing a complementary dialogue that activates both the installation and its environmental context in reciprocal enhancement. The choice of harbor siting demonstrates sensitive curatorial intelligence, grounding the abstract wave visualization within an authentic maritime environment where viewers may contemplate correspondences between the represented and actual oceanic rhythms visible in surrounding waters. The open skeletal pavilion structure achieves elegant transparency, allowing the luminous interior to remain visually accessible from multiple approach vectors while establishing necessary architectural definition for the light composition, the slender frame members disappearing into darkness as attention naturally gravitates toward the glowing suspended elements. One might observe how the work invites meditation upon the relationship between natural phenomena and human technological intervention, suggesting that careful observation and creative interpretation can distill essential qualities of environmental experience into new aesthetic forms that honor their sources while transcending literal representation. How might extended contemplation of this illuminated wave-form deepen awareness of the rhythmic patterns that structure both oceanic systems and human perception itself?
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- 'Tender Soul of Ocean' translates the concealed intricacies of the environment into visible lights, emphasizing the significance of nature's concealed messages. Positioned along the coastline, it allows viewers to immerse themselves in the mesmerizing flow of lights from diverse perspectives. The installation's lights adapt instantly to the wind's strength and direction, unveiling the subtle shifts in the breeze.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Size 7.2m x 4.8m x 3.45m
Material Soft filament LED, Metal, Acrylic - Tags
- lighting, installation, ocean, data scuplture, illumination
- Production Technology
- 'Tender Soul of Ocean' is crafted using flexible LED filament, distinct from conventional LEDs in its ability to emit light from all angles, providing viewers with a complete visual experience. This technology allows for the creation of a visually immersive LED matrix resembling a floating wave. The LED matrix comprises 42x20 LEDs, totaling 840 individual LEDs, each independently controlled via a DMX system. To capture real-time wind data, an anemorumbometer is employed, translating this data into a generative lighting program using Processing.
- Design Challenge
- The artwork employs Liquigleds Lighting Corp's liquid light strips. Given its installation in a demanding environment,a rainy, humid city along the coastline, and the material's vulnerability to breakage, conventional methods involved securing these strips inside glass containers. Consequently, significant time was dedicated to experimenting with various installation methods to ensure the strips' stability.
- Project Duration
- Location: Keelung Maritime Plaza ,Keelung, Taiwan
Exhibition: 2022 Keelung City Expo - Operation Flow
- By converting wind data into an ever-evolving play of light, it delicately mimics the subtle changes in the air, leading individuals to become more attuned to the wind's nuances. Featuring a central walkway, the installation invites individuals to step into the light waves, offering a firsthand experience of the immersive luminous display.
- Research
- While technology has expanded human capabilities, climate and environmental changes persist as crucial challenges. We aim to harness technology's potential to reveal the unseen natural environment, fostering heightened awareness of our surroundings. 'Tender of Soul' prompts viewers to contemplate enhancing awareness and perception through controlled illumination linked to natural information. This endeavor seeks to cultivate a deeper appreciation and more positive care for our planet Earth.
- Inspiration
- The artwork finds its inspiration in Keelung's ocean, nestled along the serene northern coast. This city is caressed by the damp, sea-infused air, where the salty breeze becomes a symbol and message from the ocean, touching every individual. In a silent understanding, the ocean and humanity seem to engage in a shared dialogue. 'Tender Soul of Ocean' delves into the profound separation between people and the sea.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer: Yu-Chen, Chao
Image #2: Photographer: Yu-Chen, Chao
Image #3: Photographer: Yu-Chen, Chao
Image #4: Photographer: Yu-Chen, Chao
Image #5: Photographer: Yu-Chen, Chao
Video Credits:: Film Production: Lane 216, East / Film edited : WHYIXD
Colors of Tender Soul of Ocean Lighting Installation
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Design Interview about Tender Soul of Ocean Lighting Installation
The main principle and inspiration behind our design, "Tender Soul of Ocean," is to carve out a space where hidden information from the sea is illuminated through light. This concept allows people to reconnect with the ocean's messages and experience a harmonious resonance with the environment.
In designing this work, our main focus has been to reconnect people with the environment. Our goal is to utilize technology to unveil the hidden aspects of the natural environment and increase people's awareness of their surroundings.
Winning this award holds profound significance for us as it represents not only a recognition of our efforts but also validation of our vision for blending technology and art. We envision taking this piece even further in the future, leveraging the recognition and dissemination power of this award to reach a wider audience and gain greater visibility. Ultimately, we aim to continue pushing the boundaries of creativity and innovation, inspiring more people and leaving a lasting impact on the intersection of technology and art.
We designed this particular concept because our team looks forward every year to creating a piece that is uniquely ours, a concept born from our own imaginations. This design was not commissioned; rather, it was a pursuit of inspiration that we decided to undertake. With a special invitation to exhibit, we are using this opportunity to publicly showcase our new creation at the exhibition.
This piece was 100% designed and produced by our team. Following the completion of this prototype, our current focus is on designing a more advanced version that is easy to dismantle and move, allowing the piece to be exhibited in more locations.
Our ongoing work has been the creation of digital landscapes using modern technological mediums. However, the medium itself is not our focus but rather a tool for realizing our imagination. In the future, we will continue to develop along this trajectory, continuously seeking different expressions in different eras to create surprises.
In creating this piece, we were influenced by many designers, with one significant inspiration being the renowned work "Rain Room" by Hannes Koch and Florian Ortkrass. Our aim is not only to provide a visual spectacle from afar but also to invite people to step inside and truly feel the impact of the conveyed information.
The target audience for this design is broad and inclusive. We envision this piece being exhibited worldwide and appealing to individuals interested in art, technology, and environmental awareness. Ultimately, as the design evolves into smaller installations capable of recreating environmental information, it could potentially appeal to anyone seeking to integrate such devices into their homes.
We came up with the name of this design through deep reflection on its purpose and significance. As the installation is positioned by the coast, we utilize real-time data from sea winds to create dynamic lighting effects, aiming to strengthen the connection between people and the environment. Therefore, we chose the name "Seascape: Tender Soul of Ocean" to express our reverence for nature and our exploration of the connection between humanity and the natural world.
The most unique aspect of our design lies in our relatively optimistic view towards technology. We believe that technological advancements stem from people's desire for greater communication, rather than just bringing about more destruction. We aspire to use technology to convey more positivity, and we believe that art can infuse technology with emotion and soul, while technology can also bring endless possibilities to art.
This design was created in collaboration with professionals from various fields within the WHYIXD team. In this project, each member contributed their expertise, offering diverse perspectives and insights. Through this collaborative effort, we were able to produce the final outcome.
In this specific design, the role of technology is to provide us with more choices and tools rather than being the focal point of the design. For example, in the selection of lighting mediums, technology enables us to explore and utilize newer liquid light strips, bringing us closer to our envisioned outcome. Similarly, technology aids us in finely judging and transforming wind data to ensure the stability of the piece in adverse weather conditions. Therefore, technology in this design plays a supportive and enhancing role rather than directly constituting its core.
This piece incorporates a large number of liquid light strips, a newer lighting medium known for its warm color temperature. However, compared to conventional LEDs, it is much more fragile. Given that the entire piece is placed by the seaside in Keelung, where the weather often involves rain and strong winds, ensuring the stability of this material in adverse conditions required significant effort in our structural design.
We decided to submit our design to an international design competition for several reasons. Firstly, we believe that this piece has the potential to resonate with a wide audience. Secondly, we hope that by participating in international competitions, we can promote our work to a larger audience and provide more people with the opportunity to see and appreciate our design.