In November 2016, various celebratory events took place in 120 different parks and
sights all across the UK. This was to mark the 300th anniversary of renowned
British Landscape Architect, Capability Brown, a historically important figure known
as “England’s greatest gardener’. Many of his more than 170 park designs still exist
today. Amongst these is Compton Verney, which also houses an independent
national art gallery.
Compton Verney celebrated Capability’s legacy and brought it to life through a light
“spectacular’. Compton Verney’s curator, Penelope Sexton, had the idea to create an
event outside on the grounds using light as a medium. She got in touch with Laurent
Louyer and asked him to carry out the job. Louyer said about the assignment:
“I had the simple brief to “respond to the Capability Brown’s landscape’. So
basically, I had creative carte blanche – which is a dream come true as an artist. I
found the trees, water and architectural elements to be the crucial cornerstones of
the garden, so I put them in focus. My aim was to get people to play and engage,
but also to educate them about the landscape and architecture. One of the
installations was an interactive display where people could connect with the
environment and architectural elements by using light and colours.’
For the interactive installation, Louyer used 25 pcs. of P-5 wash lights and five pcs.
of Q-7 flood/blind/strobes from SGM as giant brushes for people to “paint’ trees and
buildings. They were all controlled wirelessly via touch screens booths placed at key
viewpoints.
Additionally, seven pcs. of G-Profile moving heads from SGM were programmed to
effectively scan the landscape. They were located at very specific locations within
the park where Louyer wanted to highlight predetermined parts of the visual
landscape, adding another layer of discovery to the space. The fixtures were
programmed to be out of sync, which ensured a dynamic, non-repetitive experience
with varying sequences. It invited visitors to play with time, space and motion
within their surroundings as they were not constrained to a specific timeline. It also
encouraged people to discover certain viewpoints.
An important theme of the installation was sustainable lighting. Workshops were
organised at the site discussing how to limit the power consumption and how to
generate power in a sustainable way. The light installation itself was also
completely aligned with this theme, using the LED fixtures from SGM and 1,000
solar jars on the lawn.
Laurent Louyer had the ambition to have the kids to get more involved and
especially the interactive elements had a big appeal to that segment. Normally, it is
very difficult to get families to travel to the remote location, but with more than
8,000 new visitors during the event, the light installation certainly succeeded in
attracting a new young family audience. The light installation even got news
coverage from BBC.
