Kimchi and Chips: just the thing for winter

30 April 2013

Kimchi and Chips: just the thing for winter

Wellington LUX has announced its headline acts for this year’s mid-winter light festival being held from June 21-24 to coincide with Matariki.

Kimchi and Chips, a Seoul-based art and design studio, will bring their phenomenally popular Lit Tree to the capital. The interactive tree will be in Frank Kitts Park and freely accessible throughout the festival. Click here for a video of the tree.

UK artist Ruairi Glynn, meanwhile, will be a major drawcard at a two-day symposium at City Gallery Wellington. Mr Glynn will speak about his work including the glowing robotic tetrahedron, Fearful Symmetry, which featured at London’s Tate Modern last year.

In total, 17 artworks will be shown throughout the city. Other contributors include German artist Cornelia Erdmann and Sang Jun Yoo from South Korea, and a firm favourite from previous festivals, SquidSoup (UK/Norway/ NZ).

Founding member of the Wellington LUX Festival Trust and of Squidsoup, Chris Bennewith of Massey University, describes Lux as the perfect tonic for mid-winter blues.

“Adults and children alike get to have great fun interacting with some extraordinary illuminated artworks and see our city literally in a whole new light,” he says.

“LUX is a great opportunity to bring some fantastic international artists and designers to New Zealand, and to foster local talent. We can expose the public here to new digital media and cutting-edge technology, and put our artists on the world stage.”

Celebration of Matariki sets Wellington LUX apart from other major light festivals such as Nuit Blanc (Paris/New York), Berlin Festival of Lights, Vivid Sydney and iLight Singapore. The festival is collaborating with Te Papa, the Wellington City Council and Toi Maori on specific Matariki-inspired installations that people will be able to see on the waterfront.

There will be a free trail of illuminated works through the inner city. Wellington City Council’s urban design team has been helping LUX identify so-called dead spaces that will be brought to life after dark.

New Zealand’s second Bring Your Own Beamer (BYOB) event will also happen during LUX. BYOB is a worldwide open design phenomenon. More details about this exuberant, all-comers event will be available shortly.

Meanwhile, artists, designers, architects, researchers and students are encouraged to book early for a limited-seat two-day symposium at City Gallery. Speakers will explore the intersections of light, space and interaction, with a focus on visualising new immersive and responsive environments through the application of advanced lighting technologies. Registration opens today at www.lux.org.nz.

More information: www.lux.org.nz

ENDS

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