Real Ideas have officially begun the Illuminate festival and are off to a flying start, there was a buzz of excitement in the air as members of the public first stepped foot into the realm of Illuminate.
Once the sun sets, Ocean Studios and Market Hall are lit up by some incredible light art installations. Here is a guide to the events taking place:
Ocean Studios events
Move Yourself by The Media Workshop
In a world that’s overwhelming, where anxiety is increasing, dance has the power to lift the mood.
Move Yourself in an interactive audio and light installation.
Dance before the LED digital screen - your movements will be captured, mapped and displayed on screen.
Come on, and show us your moves!
SOLA by Squidsoup
A testament to the pure joy of feeling the sun’s rays on your body, SOLA is a monumental wall of artificial sunlight to brighten your day. It is a reminder of the summer sun, warmth and joy that lie ahead.
This vast array of collimated light sources produces the illusion and perspective of a new sun, millions of miles away in a cloudless sky.
Yet this sun is not quite real. Shadows are not exactly as expected. Distortions and haloes of orange and blue appear, creating intriguing forms and light interplay.
Pedal Power by Bike Space CIC x Real Ideas
Can you pedal hard enough to light up a tower? Have a go on one of our bikes and see if you can generate enough electricity to turn the lights on. We have bikes for all the family. See who can pedal fastest and make the lights shine most brightly.
Cycling is environmentally friendly, great exercise and when you add a dynamo, you can generate energy too.
This installation is a collaboration between Bikespace CIC and Real Ideas. Bikespace CIC are a brilliant social enterprise in Plymouth who support young people to learn how to refurbish bicycles for the community, gaining valuable experience and helping them into further education and employment.
Seafarer by Loci and The Media Workshop
Created in 2017 ahead of the 2020 Mayflower 400 celebrations in Plymouth. The Seafarer – The Eager of Spirit, the Heart to Travel measures around 10 metres in height, and was designed by members of Loci in conjunction with local artists and Fine Art lecturers Martin Brooks and Stephen Berry.
The piece engages the theme of transatlantic journeys during the 400-year period since the Mayflower, with many of the colours taken from existing features within Royal William Yard.
HALO by Illumaphonium
A magical multi-sensory ethereal environment. HALO invites the audience to wander/wonder amongst these magnificent individual, yet interlinked, columns of colour.
Using ever evolving patterns of light and sound, created by audience participation, HALO invites us to step into another world. A space unlike any other.
A beautiful place in which we are free to experience joy and play without fear of judgement or error. An escape from the mundanity of everyday life and an opportunity to reflect on how societal pressures can strip us of the curiosities we enjoyed as a child.
Illumaphonium by Illumaphonium
Illumaphonium is a dynamic and interactive, multi-sensory, music making installation - the first of its kind.
Created by musician and inventor Michael Davis, the semi acoustic, semi automatic, multi-player musical sculpture stands over three and a half meters tall and consists of more than a hundred illuminated chime bars.
Each of which respond to touch, with ever changing patterns of light and sound, spreading out like waves over the giant instruments surface, bringing people together into a fun and spontaneous music making experience.
Octopod by Designs In Air
Designs in Air are a pioneering inflatable design company who create original inflatable sculptures and spectacular installations that have been featured at many major events and exhibitions around the world.
Every Breath by Beth Munro
"Every breath you take - is a breath they make". A light Installation with a difference, by south west artist Beth Munro, based on footage of real bioluminescence. Experience a sense of wellbeing, and learn how plankton play a crucial role in the wellbeing of our planet.
BIO is a small clip of film from Jellyfish UK, the story of how the oceanic microbial world is the foundation on which all other life rests. It is also about how plankton have been sequestering carbon and giving out oxygen for millenia; it is this accumulation of O₂ in the atmosphere that we breathe today. Plankton continue to play a critical role in our oceans, supplying oxygen for much of the marine life we rely on.
Bobby Dazzler by Beth Munro and Kate Crawfurd
Join the Bobtail squid and his microbial friends as they shine a light on symbiotic relationships and bioluminescence. Connect with Bobby Dazzler by leaving your own luminescent fingerprint on him and hear his incredible story told by Dr Kate Crawfurd. Bobtail squid from Istock.
Rewilding by Florian Guibert
Is redevelopment and repurposing buildings always the answer? What would happen if we returned buildings to nature?
This beautiful animation invites visitors to watch rewilding happening before their eyes… trees growing, wildflowers blooming, the building gradually crumbling. Watch Factory Cooperage be transformed into an alternative future.
Visitors will be free to walk around the building and we want them to be left reimaging what spaces could look like if they were left for 50-100 years. Not everything needs to be bulldozed and started again, there is a beauty in nature taking over slowly.
Inspired by greenmindsplymouth.com
Moths to a Flame – Interactive, by Art and Energy x Real Ideas
The Moths to a Flame art installation will return from COP26 in Glasgow and go on display in the café at Ocean Studios. Look out for the moths to appear after the long journey home!
This project springs from the desire to respond with creativity to the climate emergency. When we act on our own, our actions can feel too small, when we act as communities, we can make a real difference. Our whispers of hope can become a roar for change.
Moths to a Flame is a mass participation art installation engaging thousands of people in creative activity and conversation inspired by our energy systems, relationship with nature, and the climate emergency. Inspired by greenmindsplymouth.com.
Light Organ by Simon Honywill
Light Organ is an interactive piece that turns soundwaves into colourful beams of light!
The sound created by individuals will be presented on a giant Audio Spectrum Analyser, showing the audience how the acoustic energy is distributed across the audio frequency spectrum.
In addition, the multi-channel loudspeaker system will enable you to hear live music in a totally immersive way.
Market Hall events
Moths to a Flame by Art and Energy
When we act on our own, our actions can feel too small, when we act collectively, we can make a real difference. Our whispers of hope can become a roar for change.
Moths to a Flame is a mass participation art installation engaging thousands of people in activity and conversation to respond with creativity to the climate emergency. The Moths join us fresh from appearing at COP26 in Glasgow.
Fancy designing your own Moth and setting it free in an immersive world? Check out the Moths to a Flame immersive experience at Market Hall running until Sunday 28 November.
Submergence by Squidsoup
Submergence is a large, immersive, light experience. It uses individual points of suspended light to create feelings of presence and movement within physical space.
The piece flows through several movements. In its entirety, an abstract narrative is formed with a gradual increase in tension, building to a final climax. Each movement has its own elements, atmosphere and responsiveness. They are also all open to one’s own interpretation.
Seagrass by Chloe Georgakis and Will Harvey
Take a night dive into an immersive seagrass meadow. Future Meadows celebrates seagrass; using light, sculpture and augmented reality (AR) to bring this vital aquatic plant to life.
Audiences can explore the ecosystem and interact through AR to learn more about its wonders and benefits. Seagrass meadows are an important habitat, their protection and restoration offer powerful nature-based solutions to societal challenges such as the climate emergency, food security and environmental degradation. Expanding our understanding and appreciation of this habitat will help us to support its revival in Plymouth and beyond.
The Glowing Outdoors by Owen Rees
Owen’s focus as a ceramicist is centred around the intricate details of nature that are often overlooked in daily life. The work focuses on the natural forms, textures and shapes of leaves and flowers that are becoming less prominent, less common, or are threatened by our actions towards the environment.
For his installation, Owen is choosing to embed leaves into clay in the making process, highlighting the pure beauty of nature, in the form of an entirely handmade ceramic light installation. The light shining through the clay and leaf imprints encapsulate every fragment of detail, creating a truly captivating viewing experience.
The Cycle of Destruction by Leah Smale and Helena Bone
Leah and Helena joined forces to create a short, silhouetted parallax animation which depicts the different stages that a forest experiences during climate change.
This shows the cycle of the forest; from its natural, flourishing state to poachers, loggers and wildfires, before returning to it’s organic state after replantation efforts. The inspiration for this installation came from the devastating wildfires in Australia and California in 2020, where thousands of families were displaced, and millions of acres of forest were destroyed.
Whale, We’re Screwed by Alex Straw, Katie Bird, Tiffany Anderson
As Plymouth is a port town, Alex, Katie and Tiffany decided to focus on an ocean-themed concept. Shipping trade has served as a backbone for our city, therefore, maintaining the health of our oceans must become a priority.
Their animation portrays the change in the journey of a whale. The ocean transforms from being idyllic and picturesque to becoming murky and infested with plastic and oil. Sadly, this is becoming a reality, and that is why we must act now.
Mother Earth by Maximillian Rueth
Maximillian aims to create more empathy for our planet by showing an anthropomorphic version of the Earth. He believes that many people don’t realise the effect we are having on our environment, as they view it as a floating rock as opposed to a living being, which is suffering.
This piece features a 3D animated face which represents the Earth as a living presence and allows it to react to different climactic changes in a way that is relatable to everyone.
Stop the Change with our Climate by Taylor-Paige Timmins
Taylor has utilised animation to portray the various effects of climate change, and how we can work to reverse this before it’s too late. The animation focuses on the effect of global warming on the ice caps, rising sea levels and more animals rapidly becoming extinct.
There are various ways in which we can prevent the impending climate chaos, but we need to take action now. There is great importance in regeneration of forests, living in an environmentally friendly way, and exploring sustainable energy options.
Wildfire by Otto Green-Roberts
Otto is ambitiously creating Immersive Dome content for the first time. This project aims to raise awareness of wildfires and their impact on animal habitat loss and carbon dioxide emissions. Rabbits, Koalas and Foxes are just 3 common victims of wildfires, but there are thousands more.
Entire food chains can be destroyed, innocent lives lost. In recent years, we have seen more wildfires shown in mainstream media, and as this becomes more common, more resources are exacerbated, and the importance of education has never been more crucial. Otto is hopeful that creating immersive media will inspire everyone to make a difference.