For the 2014-2015 Amsterdam Light Festival Dutch-based offices Serge Schoemaker Architects & DigiLuce created a twelve-metre-long passage that is surrounded by a four-metre-high three-dimensional matrix of 2000 handmade lights: Alley of Light.
Alley of Light is an urban space defined by light. The light installation consists of 320 vertical strings with six lights each, hanging in a black steel cage construction. The footprint of the installation measures 10 by 12 metres. Visitors have to climb several steps to enter this sparkling world.
The atmosphere and sense of space within the twelve metre-long passage change continuously thanks to its programmed variation of light configurations that never repeats. The lights continuously change intensity. The wave-like motion of light within the installation generates a unique spatial experience: when all lights are lit, the passage appears enclosed and intimate; as soon as the lights dim, the space becomes fluid and the borders of the alley start to fade.
Alongside the internal experience, the installation is perceived externally as an eye-catching three-dimensional animation. The motion of light within the strong geometric shape of the matrix can be seen from afar and invites people to experience the installation from within. The algorithm that controls the individual lights and generates the wave-like motion through the grid, is inspired by and derived from the physics of underwater lighting effects.
The individual lights are designed as abstract vertical lines. Each handmade light consists of two LEDs enclosed by an acrylic tube. The tubes are covered with white paper and sealed with heat shrink tubes. Next to the nearly 2000 lights, the installation consists of one-and-a-half kilometres of cabling. The experience of the installation is supported on site by music from Machinefabriek/ Rutger Zuydervelt.
After its premier at the Amsterdam Light Festival, the light artwork was shown at the 2015-2016 Norrköping Light Festival in Sweden.
