(flash w/ sound) to be held in Sydney from May 26 to June 14 this year. While I would appreciate any advice on bringing an installation like this to fruition, I was hoping specifically to get feedback on our plans to pre-fabricate the components (basically if they seem feasible, and if there are cheaper more efficient ways of going about it, how to use less energy, and especially how we could reuse or recycle the materials).
I apologise for the very open-ended question, but as this is still in the concept phase I felt it wasn't appropriate for MeFi Projects.
Here are some early renders and some background information on the festival, including
the brief (PDF) we went by.
The festival will roughly coincide with the government's plans to
phase out incandescent lightbulbs, and is designed to emphasize the importance of energy efficient lighting and the issue of light pollution. Our expression of interest was recently accepted and we are still in the planning phase, but hope to have sponsors on board and shop drawings complete for fabrication by the end of this month. The three of us are graduated architecture students.
What it is
A miniaturized abstraction of the Sydney CBD in the form of about 40 to 50 lanterns, ranging from about half a metre to 2 metres tall, with LED spotlights illuminating them from within. The lanterns correspond to city blocks; the colour of the lanterns to the level of energy consumed by each block, and the light pollution emitted.
Aim
We want the installation to be a thing of beauty, and an attraction. But once the visitor approaches, we want to invoke a certain sense of unease; to get them to question the source of the Sydney's night time beauty, and what it's costing the Earth. We hope to do this mainly through sound -- by creating a kind of ambient track using samples of buildings 'humming' (air conditioners, background noise of plumbing, etc.), which intensifies as the visitor approaches.
Site
If things go to plan, the installation will be in the forecourt of Customs House (
google map). This is a very public space along Sydney Harbour, with a lot of through traffic. Our installation is one of many along the festival's 'light walk'.
There's also a lot of night lighting, but we will ask that as much as possible be turned off while the installation is on (about 5 to 11pm?). If possible we want to power the lights using car batteries which have been discarded with some juice left in them. (A lighting consultant we talked to suggested this.) We'll have mains power for speakers.
Lanterns
We want to pre-fabricate the lantern frames out of galvanized or painted mild steel, roughly in the shape of a
box kite frame. We are in contact with a steel fabricator about this, but are wondering if there is a more environmentally friendly option, as we aren't sure what to do with the steel afterwards. (Our university
might take it for their metal workshop, but not 40-50 lanterns worth!) The problem is that the lanterns need to be weatherproof, vandalproof, and relatively idiotproof (public liability) for the 3 weeks the festival. Same thing with the fabric 'sock' that will go over the frame. We're wondering if heavy-duty calico will do the trick?
Lights
A lighting consultant we talked to about this suggested that LED spotlights (shaped like a halogen uplight, but with a dozen or more LEDs as the light source) would be our best, most energy efficient option. The largest red lantern in the renders will hold a locked box containing the car batteries/other power source, LED controllers, and a laptop/ipod shuffle for the sound. We are not crystal clear on where the power outlets are, but were told they will be at the north end of the forecourt. As we may have to fence the installation (not our choice), running wire between lanterns shouldn't be a problem.
We're not of one mind about this, but we were also thinking about dangling/suspending individual LEDs closer to the surface of the lanterns, which briefly fade on and off at irregular, fairly infrequent intervals to simulate the turning on and off of lights, and to give the installation some movement visually. This might be over-complicating the already substantial challenge of wiring up all this lighting though.
(I was wondering if there might be a way to do this using something like
LED throwies, but that's a lot of batteries to dispose of, and how to turn them on/off?)
Sponsorship
I shouldn't go into detail, but we are hoping to get donations in the form of materials from the manufacturers of any products we use, and may offer some space on the information panel on the largest red lantern, plus other exposure (such as on
our website, any printed material) to other potential sponsors. Is there anything else we might do to attract sponsors, and give them value for the money they contribute? (We want to avoid 'branding' the lanterns as much as possible.)
Thanks!
Subscribe
I can't seem to attach the brief PDF at the moment, but perhaps it's not essential given the list of aims.
posted by carnival of animals at 7:36 AM on March 18