BUBBLE LIGHT:
design competition
Light being the theme of the competition. I was transported to my youth back in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, the city of lights, where there is no time of day where electronic lights are not powered on. This can be seen through the excessive use of office lights, neon signs, and LED advertisements. Raised in Hong Kong, when you look up at the night sky, there is only a fuzzy haze and no star in sight. Light pollution may seem harmless, but its heavily affects wildlife that rely on the natural sunlight to guide their internal rhythm, as well as reflect the excessive use of energy into out city that are wasteful.
For the competition I had wanted to create a cross global installation that would bring further awareness of the light pollution into the physical realm, and show how ones actions may seem fun and innocuous, can actually cause someone else discomfort without even realising it. With one side situated in an empty grassy field in Seattle and the other total opposite which is the hustle and bustle of a Hong Kong’s city center. The use of the polarising places allows for there to be an interaction between the use of artificial light. With night time, in one time zone and day time in the other, the awareness of the two sides can become more evident with the installation. By doing so it can reflect that pollution, not only light pollution, is a ubiquitous problem that runs deep into our ecosystem and something that we have to be aware of. This installation not only speaks to architecture being a forerunner of showing or creating change in the world, but also as a reminder that architecture does not always mean a full building something that people often misinterpret it as.
With light pollution being something that is not tangible, the experiment forces us to reconcile with it in a physical way with one side of the world enjoying the fun effects of artificial lighting with the modified bubble wands the other side of the world suffers with a physical interruption to people’s daily routine. The use of the modified bubble wand as the main tool to show enjoyment is because it is a symbol of a reminiscent childhood, a fun innocent activity that kids would play with. Furthermore, the bubbles are also a reflection of the delicate society we live in, the ecosystem, as well as that bubble of personal space that gets invaded through the installation.
With the unconventional way of bringing attention to the issue people will flock to social media to share the experiment and bring more awareness to the issue that is at the heart of this experiment.
