THE River of Light Trail, which is illuminating Liverpool's waterfront for 17 nights, launched last week.
Running until Sunday November, 6, River Of Light will play host to a series of artworks created by local, national and international artists.
River Of Light is the first time that renowned artists Yinka Ilori and Camille Walala have worked in the art medium of light.
The exhibition launches, as Liverpool plays host to the World Gymnastics Championships 2022, inspiring the creative theme for River of Light 2022: ‘Unexpected Twist’.
The 2km walking trail, includes a mix of brand new, world premieres, as well as existing artworks which have never been displayed in the city before.
The brand new, never-before seen commissions are:
Turn The Light On, It’s Dark In Here – Influential and critically acclaimed French street artist Camille Walala, will work in light for the first time in her career and expect a colourful, dynamic piece which plays with depth and dimensionality, creating an abstract cityscape of light.
Dancing Ribbons – Another light first for the much-lauded British-Nigerian artist Yinka Ilori, who has been inspired by rhythmic gymnastics. His installation aims to capture the energy between the gymnast and the prop ribbon and includes a specially-created soundscape by accomplished composer and producer Peter Adjaye.
Light Looper – The brainchild of Liverpool’s own Kazimier Productions, this interactive installation is a multiplayer game where players send particles of lights all around the art work, building up speed until the piece allows them to send the fully charged particle to the very top.
Rainbow Accordion – Inspired by a traditional accordion, this artwork consists of six giant colourful interconnected archways, which sit on an interactive pad that when jumped on, sends light and sound through the archway. This work has been created by Australian artists Amigo & Amigo and it is their second appearance at a River of Light festival.
BEAM – A brand new commission by the acclaimed Lucid Creates (artists Helen Swan and Chris Carr) will see a beam of light transport visitors to a hot, summer’s day, accompanied by the sounds of the British countryside. But after several minutes the feeling of peace and warmth will change to unease and suspense.
Existing artworks exhibited at River Of Light for the first time include:
The Electric Dandelions - Giant steel and acrylic sculptures by American artist Liquid PXL that represent a dandelion flower during the day and come to life at night.
Kinetic Perspective - Spanish artist Juan Fuentes takes a simple piece as its starting point: an ever-spinning circle moving outwards and its illusory effect. In this way, the artist creates an abstract, immersive geometric shape, playing with the perspective of visitors by giving the impression of movement.
Continuum - An awe inspiring, 20 metre immersive artwork by illumaphonium is made of 25 mirrored monoliths, each standing over 2.5m tall. The monoliths are laid out in a geometric maze pattern, creating a mirrored maze of infinite reflections. As you approach each monolith the light pattern responds to your presence and the sound is activated. Ripples of light are sent between towers and an ever-evolving soundscape is created.
Affinity - An immersive interactive light and sound installation by Amigo & Amigo, inspired by the human brain. Each light globe represents a neuron and connection in the brain. When people touch the light globe the colour changes, the more people that interact the further their light travels throughout the sculpture. Affinity features 62 different colour combinations and 45 points of interactivity.
Evanescent - A larger-than-life bubble artwork by Atelier Sisu. Standing at 8m tall, the audience is invited to walk underneath the bubble structures. The material of the artwork is iridescent in the sunlight. When darkness falls, internal lights illuminate bubbles in vibrant multi-colours alongside an accompanying etherial soundscape.
The full details of all ten pieces, the artists and their locations can be found on the official River of Light website.
River Of Light is being delivered by Liverpool City Council’s Culture Liverpool team and is supported by Arts Council England.
To get the latest information on River Of Light visit www.visitliverpool.com/riveroflight or follow @visitliverpool (Twitter and Facebook) or @visitliverpool_ (Instagram).
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