Overview
How do you brighten up one of the most vibrant cities on earth? And at the brightest time of the year? It's simple: add a park installation littered with glowing lights. Like Tokyo before it, New York now boasts its own short-term piece of luminous art — and one that's both creative and eye-catching. Called Whiteout, the commissioned project has unleashed hundreds of LED-filled globes upon Madison Square Park.
Set up until March 25, 2018, the piece comes from Austrian-born, New York and Ohio-based artist Erwin Redl, who suspended the white, transparent spheres across the space using a square steel grid and cabling. As well as their standard twinkling, the orbs sway with the wind and sparkle according to large-scale animated patterns, all as part of the 6.2-acre park's latest free outdoor exhibition.
Explains Redl, "the physicality of the swaying orbs in conjunction with the abstract animations of their embedded white lights allows the public to explore a new, hybrid reality in this urban setting." Known for creating light projects on building facades, Redl takes inspiration from the greats in the field, such as Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, James Turrell, and Doug Wheeler
While visitors can't interact with the installation, they can view it as they mosey along the park's walkways. Given that more than 60,000 people visit the site daily, it's certain to make quite the impact, in a piece Redl created and fabricated with the assistance of Madison Square Park Conservancy and the New York City, Brisbane and Shanghai-based public artwork firm UAP.
If you're in New York, check out Whiteout at Madison Square Park until March 25, 2018. Head to the park website for further information.
Image: Erwin Redl, Whiteout, 2017. Steel, animated white LEDs, stainless steel cable, low voltage insulated wire, two sections: each 12 x 40 x 180 feet; overall: 12 x 110 x 180 feet. Collection of the artist. © Erwin Redl. Photo: Rashmi Gill.