2degrees lights up Auckland Harbour Bridge in World First

MEDIA RELEASE
13 March 2015

2degrees lights up Auckland Harbour Bridge in World First

Fusing light, music, mobile and one of Auckland’s most recognisable landmarks together – 2degrees launched another Kiwi world first in celebration of the city’s 175th anniversary on Thursday evening.

Last night, Auckland’s Harbour Bridge was lit up and transformed in to a giant LED music amplifier in the biggest interactive art, music and light show New Zealand has ever seen.

The 2degrees ‘Play the Bridge’ light show will run every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night over the next six weeks on the city-facing side of the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The dynamic light show will be synched to music chosen by the public, bringing the tracks to life in a spectacular way. The performances can be watched via live stream on mobiles or laptops, or in person at several great vantage spots around the harbour.

The 2degrees’ ‘Play the Bridge’ event is particularly special given it’s the first time the bridge has ever been used as part of a display in its 56-year history.

2degrees Chief Marketing Officer Malcolm Phillipps says the event is about celebrating Auckland City, our sense of community and how mobile connects us.

“2degrees is all about doing things differently and what better way to celebrate this great city than celebrating the two things that connect us – mobile technology and the Harbour Bridge. We’ve merged music, art and mobile together in a way that’s never been seen or done before.

The power of mobile means Kiwis from all over the country can ‘Play the Bridge’ by requesting their favourite music and then seeing it all come to life in real time on their mobile devices. It’s about innovation, technology and most of all, fun,” he said.

Lighting up the country’s largest bridge to music has been no mean feat.

2degrees brought in one of the world’s leading experts in light installations, Sydney-based 32 Hundred Lighting, who is responsible for a number of high profile lighting events including the Sydney Harbour Bridge for the annual Vivid Light Festival.

More than 1,000 LED light tubes made up of over 51,000 light bulbs have been individually installed by hand on the Auckland Harbour Bridge over the last fortnight to create the visual symphony.

Mr Phillipps says a massive amount of work has been put in by a range of organisations to make ‘2degrees Play the Bridge’ come to life.

“This has been six months in planning so we’re really excited to finally be in a position to share this with New Zealand. We’ve worked very closely with New Zealand Transport Agency and ATEED and are also fortunate to have the support of Samsung to make this happen. From the various Council and transport agencies to the team who carried the 1,000 LED lights up the bridge in backpacks, it’s been a real team effort.

“We are proud of this Kiwi innovation and very much looking forward to the whole country getting involved in playing the bridge. The way we are using mobiles today is totally different and there’s no better example of that than this,” he said.

2degrees’ ‘Play the Bridge’ will light up Auckland City Harbour every Thursday, Friday andSaturday nights from 7:30pm with the full music amplification show running from 8:00pm until 11:30pm for six weeks from March 12th till April 25th.

The event is brought to you by 2degrees, with the support of Samsung, NZTA and ATEED.

Notes to editors:
How to Play the Bridge:
1. Get online – visit www.playthebridge.co.nz
2. Request a song – find your favourite track.
3. Watch the live stream – enjoy the performance on your mobile, laptop or tablet.
4. Watch for real – watch the performance from one of the many amazing vantage spots around the city, listening to the audio on your mobile. Visit www.playthebridge.co.nz for more detail on where the best viewing spots are.

Facts on 2degrees ‘Play the Bridge’ in numbers:

• 1000 LED lights
• 51,152 light bulbs
• 10.3 kilometres of power cable
• 15,000 cable ties
• Nine people from 32Hundred Lighting to install the lighting equipment
• Over 200 man hours to install all equipment on the bridge

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