Illumination Rig

2002 - ongoing



Illumination Rig is in one sense an event, and in another a sculpture, an occasion where consumption and transformation are made conspicuous. The lights used for the work are hired from film lighting companies, they are very specific to cinema and they have a particular architecture and intensity. The lights bring about the sense that something is about to unfold within their throw, they imply some kind of narrative where something is about to arrive or depart, perhaps spectacular. They turn whatever they illuminate into a possible film set and they are a way of orchestrating movement and architecture. They also light the audience, who become the subjects in a altered landscape. The nuance of the piece changes dramatically according to location and the conditions around it.

The work varies in duration, as the work exists as a commission, location and budget affect its scale and running time.

Illumination Rig has so far been shown in five locations:

Reculver, Kent 2002
Newcastle city centre, with Locus+ 2006
Sharjah, UAE for the 8th biennial 2007
Margate, Kent for the Turner Contemporary opening, 2011
Elephant & Castle, London, for Animated Environments at Siobhan Davies Studios 2012