Light Matrix (Auckland Theatre Company)
A site-specific installation for Auckland Theatre Company, ASB Waterfront Theatre, 138 Halsey Street, Wynyard Quarter, Auckland.Edmiston Trust Collection. Leo Villareal works with light by combining custom software with the new LED technology. His first light work was intended to simply serve a purpose; help him find his way back in the dark to his mobile home at the Burning Man Festival in 1997. He had created something much more intriguing. His art is now recognised as some of the most inspiring light works of his generation.
This installation made up of 8,260 LEDs, encased in channels, spans 29 metres and runs across three floors of the building. Villareal spent time at the theatre programming at night his algorithms that generate the LED sequences. Villareal describes it as a sculpture to be explored. The public is welcome to come inside, take time with the artwork when the theatre is open. With the glazed façade the artwork is also viewable when the theatre is closed.
For Villareal the ability of an artwork to connect people and draw them together is a vital part of public art. He enjoys museums and art galleries but says, dragging art out and making it part of people’s everyday lives is really important.
Text: Courtesy of Edmiston Trust Trust
Artist: Leo Villareal
Light Matrix from Simon Devitt on Vimeo.