Philips, one of the founders of GLOW, annually adopts a piece of art and challenges the designer to work with Philips light products. This year’s result of that challenge was Step Into The Light, by designer Michel Suk. Besides the project of Suk, Philips presents two other projects.
The artwork of Suk, which can be seen all week on the Philips Lichtplein on the Lichtstraat in Eindhoven, is made up from a circle at a height of 4 meters, in which Philips-lights are mounted.
Michel Suk
Michel Suk wanted to place the spectator in the centre of the light work. “It gives them the perspective of the artist”, he says. Suk came to that realisation when he was developing a computer model from the installation.
“I had thought of the plan of putting the bows in a circle before because that gives a countless number of variations, but the computer model made me realise that it would be special to place the visitor in de centre.”
Looking back, the artist would have wanted the installation to hang a few meters lower.
“Too many visitors are still standing in a circle around the installation. I want to invite them to move towards the centre. To me, the project isn’t complete yet. I am planning to continue to work on it in the future.”
Private Light
In contrast to Step Into The Light, there’s Private Light, a piece of work by light artist Titia Ex. That artwork, which can be seen near the Philips museum, is small and modest.
The newness and grandness versus the familiarity and intimacy of light. According to Conny Degen, through Philips involved in the organisation of GLOW, the selection of artworks was an attempt to connect the future with history.
“Because of the 125th anniversary of Philips this year we have tried to connect ‘the new light’ of Step Into The Light’ with the ‘historical light’, the light bulb factory of Philips, now the Philips Museum”, says Degen.
The subtle light work of Ex accentuates the story of the history of the old light bulb factory and her surroundings, according to Degen. “The piece of art literally takes the factory out of its own shadow and gives a more personal and intimate experience to the city.”
Lightfall
Finally, there is a third work on display which was selected by Philips for GLOW. “Apart from the two artworks by artists outside of Philips, we also always present a project that has been realised by people from within Philips.”
That piece of work is called Lightfall and can be viewed at De Kazerne in Eindhoven. The project is a part of a series of installations made by Paul Thursfield, head Service Design and by Symon Rycroft, Senior Strategic Designer at Philips Lighting.
The installations have been designed as part of a research on new light experiences. The installation shown at GLOW combines light and sounds and it forms a circular curtain made of Philips LED-lightning.
Philips wants to use GLOW to, among other things, experiment with new forms of light technology and show the possibilities in this area. “Eindhoven is the City of Light of the Netherlands”, says Degen. “Once a year we show that at GLOW, Philips is proud to have been involved in this event from the very first hour. Our company and the event are connected inseparably.”
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