Over 3000 Anolis Arc Dot LED fixtures have been utilised in an eye-catching light sculpture “The Artists Edge” created by artist Stuart Green for the new landmark Elizabeth Quay development that reconnects the Swan River with the city of Perth, Western Australia, creating a brand new entertainment and leisure precinct.
The design specification and realisation of the work – which traces the outline of the actual water around the centre of the new Quay area – was undertaken and co-ordinated by David Sparrow of Perth based architectural and creative lighting specialist, Light Application.
Stuart Green has a penchant for imagining spectacular, bold and interesting public art works, many of them involving light, and The Artist’s Edge is a border of animated light around this inlet, invoking over a kilometre of double-sided acrylic track. Inside which the ArcDots – a Cree MC-E RGBW multichip based high powered multi-coloured LED pixel fixture – are mounted.
The work was commissioned by the Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority (MRA), a government entity charged with redeveloping major sections of the city, who also asked Light Application on-board to specify and deliver lighting for the entire area. This also currently includes 9 separate building sites which when completed will include new Westin and Ritz Carlton Hotels, offices and retail outlets.
The idea of using fully addressable light-sources for this element of the lighting scheme was originated jointly by David, Stuart and project architects ARM. All agreed that it would be a perfect solution to be able to feed the source
with video content that would produce beautifully organic effects.
It also enables guest artists to produce content and clips that can be featured and the installation can be coloured for special events like breast cancer awareness and festive occasions like Christmas, St Patrick’s Day, etc.
From there, David specified the Anolis ArcDots.
It was the first time he had used this particular product, but having used Anolis in his work for about 12 years, he was fully confident that the product met all the criteria of reliability and quality engineering, and knew that he would receive excellent back up and support from Anolis’ Australian distributor, The ULA Group.
Another primary reason to go with Anolis was brightness. It needed to be visible from afar and especially from the magnificent view of downtown and Elizabeth Quay from Kings Park on the mount opposite.
The ArcDots are fixed to a plate under both edges of the double-sided acrylic cover of the tubes which snake all around the space, and the two sides are independently controlled for additional dynamics.
The ArcDot power supplies are in eight different locations spread around the Quay all linked via a fibre network back to the e:Cue Light Engine controller which is integrated to the site wide system lighting controller, allowing The Artist’s Edge to change colour together with lighting on the trees, foliage, bridge, walkways, street lights and elsewhere. There are currently over 4000 sources in the complete lighting scheme.
The Artist’s Edge switches on at 7 minutes after sunset and runs – slowing down a bit at midnight – until 5 a.m. An anemometer is also linked into the control, triggering different shows created by the artist, which are played to match or contrast the weather based on wind speed and wave activity.
The Artist’s Edge leads these site-wide colour changing effects in all the other fixtures and David believes the overall scheme is the largest single intelligent lighting system installation in Western Australia to date.
Cuono Biviano, Managing Director of ULA Group comments: “We are extremely proud of being involved in this major redevelopment in Perth. As someone who has had a long history and passion for Perth, it has been a real honor to have our technology as the key visual center piece to Elizabeth Quay, the new prominent landmark of the city”.
“Working together with our long term trusted partner David and his team at Light Application is always a pleasure,
” says Con. “Their ability of implementing the latest visual technologies into modern city structures is commendable. The Anolis ArcDots are the perfect fit for this project, offering total flexibility to create visual art and atmosphere to bring life to architecture and open space”.
The public reaction has been really positive – people love the Artist’s Edge and it also serves as a beacon to attract people to the area in which the first retail outlets, restaurants and bars are already open and trading.
“I’m delighted with the ArcDots,” says David, “They are extremely bright, rich in colour and evenly spread for a really smooth effect. The amount of intelligent control in this project has opened up new and exciting possibilities for multi-level lighting control here in Perth and elsewhere,” he concludes.
