The Winston-Salem Light Project
A multimedia public art event
7-11 p.m.
Nov. 19, 20 and 21
101 West Third St.,
Downtown Winston-Salem
FREE
Parking is available on the street or in surrounding parking decks.
A large open lawn is available for people to gather to watch the show.
“Imagine a grain of rice. Now, try to conceive of the amount of rice needed to feed the continent of Africa for one day. We can show you that. Think of how much oil one child will use in a lifetime – an image of thousands of barrels of oil (to scale, even). Think of how much that child could reduce his/her consumption through conservation and alternative energy – the image replaces that amount of oil with ‘green’ images. Imagine 7 billion people on this planet. We can show you what 7 billion looks like. The world is expected to reach that population in 2010, concurrent with the U.S. Census in 2010.”
-– Norman Coates
Last year, UNCSA students “lit” the Millennium Center using the styles of various artists. This year, UNCSA students will project up to 100 images onto the Fourth Street side of the Pepper Building during a 15-20 minute cycle. The cycles will run continuously, in a loop, from 7-11 p.m. each day.
The images, which have been designed by four senior undergraduate lighting design students in the UNCSA School of Design and Production, will focus on depletion of the world’s resources, the environment and sustainability, and population growth.
UNCSA Design & Production faculty member Norman Coates is again leading the Winston-Salem Light Project, which is headlining 6 Days in November in Winston-Salem.
“This year, the Winston-Salem Light Project will once again bring cutting edge technology to create art, light and magic in Winston-Salem,” Coates said. “The Light Project was conceived to powerfully demonstrate the impact of light as an artistic medium in urban contexts.
“This year’s project theme is ‘Re-Imagining Resources,’” Coates continued. “Each student will visually interpret the mind-numbing statistics we encounter daily concerning these issues. Unique images will illustrate the enormity of the issue and the creativity of the students.”
The students will also utilize the Fourth and Liberty Streets sides of the Pepper Building to count to 7 billion, using 0s and 1s, in Base 2.
A total of 26 students in the Lighting Program at UNCSA are involved in implementing the event, which involves projecting digitally manipulated images onto the building façade with high-tech, large format projectors.
There will be programs available – on recycled paper, of course – to explain the images the viewers will see. “We’re not trying to tell anyone what to do with their lives,” Coates said. “We’re just trying to illustrate statistics.
“It’s no longer ‘save the Earth’; the Earth will be just fine,” Coates continued. “It’s ‘save the human race – because we’ve poisoned our environment, and we’re running out of resources.”
The Designers
John D. Alexander, Upper Marlboro, Md.
Credits include Scapino, Emerging Choreographers Concert. He was also the National Black Theatre Festival's lighting director for the Arts Council Theatre in 2009.
“I want to show exactly how one individual contributes to the issue of depleting our safe drinking water. I chose artist David Hockney for his clever use of shredding an image and copying only certain details of a figure to emphasize its importance. It would be easy to literally show the trail of an individual’s footprint; instead, I will emphasize the juxtaposition of resources we use in our everyday lives and how that directly affects another individual and eventually our planet. “
Alex Bright, Phoenix, Ariz.
Presently designing Saint Joan (Nov. 12-21) and soon to be designing lights for Maria Stuarda, the winter opera.
“I looked for inspiration in the works of Banksy, the British graffiti artist who uses stencils and aerosol paint to produce street art that blurs the lines of reality and illusion. His work often questions political, cultural, and ethical standards with witty juxtapositions of people, animals, and landscapes. My intent is to trick the viewer’s eye into believing that that image on the side of the building was actualy painted there by someone’s hand to show the deliberate affect human overpopulation has on the world’s plant and animal life.”
Emily McGillicuddy, Long Island, N.Y.
Credits include Kid Champion and the Gallery Players’ production of King Lear in Brooklyn.
“Have you ever thought about what life would be like if you never saw the sunshine because of the amount of pollution you put into the air or if every picture you brought home had a gray sky instead of a blue one? The amount of carbon dioxide every American puts into the air could make these seemingly unimaginable scenarios a reality. Through my images, I hope to put into perspective the eye-opening relationship of increased emissions to declining air quality.”
Rob Ross, Vienna, Va.
Credits include Il Mondo della Luna and productions at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. Soon to be designing Two Gentlemen of Verona during winter term.
“I have chosen to use oil to represent energy because it is the most tangible form of energy we use. I will illustrate the question: What if you had to carry oil around with you all day? Maybe I will be able to put into perspective for my viewers how much oil each of us uses in a day and the effects of that on our Earth. I hope that viewers will leave the project remembering our images, and think about it in their everyday life, and perhaps change some of their everyday tasks as a result.”
Production Electrician/Technician
Rob Virzera, New Hyde Park, N.Y.
“My part in this project is the planning, coordination and execution of the electrical and technical aspects of the project. I am excited about the challenges that the creative team and I face in the execution of the ’09 project. This experience presents the opportunity to learn outside our normal training by presenting challenges unique to the nature of public art. Having worked on the Winston-Salem Light Project ’08, I know how these kinds of projects illuminate the city with a creative light that intrigues myself and others."
For more information, visit www.lightproject.org.
This event is part of the “6 Days in November” series of events and shows that highlight the city of Winston-Salem. Experience the City of Arts and Innovation! November 17-22, Winston-Salem celebrates its heritage as North Carolina’s center for crafts and arts. Visit TheCityOfTheArts.com for more information and details.
The Winston-Salem Light Project is made possible through support from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County, and from Wachovia – A Wells Fargo Company.
   |
