The Light Within

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About

Nathan Fischer, Ludwig Wilhelm Wall, Diana Tran

“Light at the end of the tunnel” is an age-old known idiom. Light is what we want to see when we are in our darkest moments, giving us hope that things will be okay. But what if the 'light at the end of a tunnel' actually comes from within? The Light Within aims to show that we all have a 'Light Within' that, when at its brightest, can do great things.

The public is invited to stand in front of the exhibit, facing the camera located at the top of the ping-pong wall. The sculpture is like a mirror, it turns the individual into the art piece itself - without the subject, the exhibit is not complete. Once in position, an illuminated version of the individual is projected onto the ping-pong wall. The act of using the dials and confronting the image projected in front of the user therefore challenges viewers to renew their perception of themselves and to realise the beauty of their inner light. The image of the subject can further be manipulated with a series of dials that can be used to augment the image being projected. One dial can be used to adjust how pixelated the image is, while the second dial can alter the image from black and white to a vibrant colour display. The image being projected will become clearer, more colourful and brighter.

Supported by The Engineering Ideas Clinic and University of Waterloo Engineering

Daniel Pechersky, Charlie Wang, Joseph Kinsella, Brian Le, Richard Shi and the WLED Community for contributing to the software and coding, and Abdallah Arar, Sabrina Lopresti, Yisan Jun, and Kevin Tran.

Paul Robels

Created by artist Paul Robles, the curved forms will lead you through a snake-like path and make you wonder, what are the monkeys building? Why are their hands red? Are they ghosts of a pre-pandemic social scene?

‘See Hear Speak’ was conceived of during the pandemic and is intended to interrupt the quiet of a once thriving gathering place. It is an oddity calling for attention, conjuring a magnetic contradiction that highlights and denies the human experience of contact, folly, and closeness. The playful shapes are layered with monkeys and meaning to suggest team bonding exercises, sporty cheer(leaders), religious divination, and even fraternity hazing. Echoing society’s current unease, the title invokes the proverb of the Three Wise Monkeys and how the threat of isolation and despair can lead to compulsive diversion.

See Hear Speak was originally commissioned by the Winnipeg Arts Council through Winnipeg’s Public Art Program.

*Please refer to the link provided for the exact location*

Links

• Lumen Festival lumenfestival.ca
• List and Map of installations lumenfestival.ca

Organizer

City of Waterloo

Lumen is an annual, free, all-ages festival that is open to the public and run by the City of Waterloo’s Arts and Creative Industries team, Create Waterloo. The event features the work of artists as they explore the interplay of light, art, and technology in installations located throughout uptown Waterloo.

Hosting 30+ visual, interactive, new media, and performance-based installations, the event is an exciting night in uptown not to be missed!

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