I constructed and installed these seven ephemeral Floating Light Sculptures during a May 2013 residency at I-Park Foundation in rural Connecticut. The residency allowed me to develop an idea dating to 1994, and to bring it to fruition.
The sculptures were octagons and circles, and they ranged in diameter from 9 inches to 5 ½ feet. They were best seen at night when their white glow was most intense. I was surprised that the forms maintained a quiet presence during the day. Equally unexpected was how the LED lights mimicked the moon’s glow and color.
The floating sculptures appear in photographs as smaller, distant objects. Walking the trail around the pond led one quite close to where the light sculptures were installed, and the energy of the lights made size irrelevant.
Surrounded by forest, the sculptures floated in the pond’s clear space, moving in concert with the wind. Nature subsumed these sculptures; once afloat, they belong more to the natural world than the man-made.
Materials: wood, screws and grommets, Styrofoam, paint, museum putty, and submersible LED lights lit by 48-hour batteries.
Many thanks to Lani Asuncion for the nighttime photos: #’s 6 – 10.