i Light Marina Bay 2018 | Mar 9, 2018


An evening of photography and leisurely strolling at i Light Marina Bay 2018.


If you have been reading my Diary category, I’m sure you would have gotten the impression Singapore is obsessed with light-ups.

Well, yeah, we adore light-ups. To the extent, ethnic festive opportunities for them are no longer enough, and so we created other events for them. By the latter, I’m of course referring to the Night Festival, the recent Civic District Light to Night Fest, and so on.

On the flip side, environmentalists are probably aghast at our fixation with colourful electric lights, with that itself the main reason for i Light Marina Bay. (By my interpretation, anyway).

Promoted as “a showcase of light art installations” by Singaporean and international artists, with all designs using energy-saving lights and environmentally friendly materials, the event highlights Marina Bay’s commitment to being a sustainable precinct. The festival also has a secondary objective of encouraging visitors to adopt “sustainable habits” in daily life.

With the venue at the very heart of downtown, it’s, of course, also a major tourism event. Part of the multi-year endeavours to spice up the waterfront area too. For us Singaporeans, I guess it’s yet another breezy evening event to look forward to outside of ethnic festivals. One that provides for great photos as well.

Esplanade Park

Having been “trained” as recently as January, I now know better than to just head to the festival and wander blindly, or to only refer to a (free[!]) map when there.

After consulting the official website, I decided to aim for one full circuit of Marina Bay over three to four hours, with the starting point being Esplanade Park. This would be a sensible starting point given several light art installations are on display there.

Transistable Plastic Art Installation at Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay
The very first installation I encountered while walking over from Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. It’s titled Transistable Plastic and is a maze-like structure made from plastic drinking water bottles. (I wonder how many of us contributed to the materials!)
i Light Marina Bay 2018 - Flawless
Flawless at the waterfront steps. Not quite dark yet when I shot this, as you can see. But this site-specific installation blends well with the surroundings even during daylight.
Dancing Grass by Yuree Hong & Siyoung Kim
Dancing Grass by Yuree Hong & Siyoung Kim from South Korea. A miniature forest of lights for the adventurous?
Esplanade Park Singapore Light Art Installation Display
Milk Bottle Cows. (Was this inspired by Singapore’s fondness for unusual cows in public spaces?)

My original plan was to backtrack to the Theatres after Esplanade Park, then make my way down to Marina Bay Sands. After seeing the cows, though, I decided I ought to do it the other way i.e. proceed in the direction of Collyer Quay instead.

This abrupt change in plan was thanks to Illumaphonium, the sole installation at Pod @ Singapore River. While strolling through Esplanade Park, I was deeply seduced by the hypnotic sounds emanating from it. Later on, a minute of fooling around with the chimes made me decide right away this would be my favourite light art installation for the evening too.

I suppose the concept just deeply appealed to the amateur musician in me.

i Light Marina Bay 2018 - Illumaphonium
Side note. As much as I enjoyed it, I was disturbed by my inability to readily identify the pitches. My hearing has deteriorated!

Merlion Park

Good ol’ Merlion received its own makeover for i Light Marina Bay 2018. He was a little hard to photograph, though, with so many tourists about. I had to be (shamefully) aggressive before I could secure a vantage spot.

i Light Marina Bay Festival 2018
Titled Elements of Life, this installation decorates dear Merlion with changing light art skins. The concept is built around the classic elemental concept of Water, Earth, Wind/Air and Fire.
Merlion Statue Singapore.
An alternate view of Elements of Life.

Collyer Quay and GastroBeats @ i Light Marina Bay

Clifford Pier Light Art Installation
The thumping With Love… at Clifford Pier. Several write-ups promoted this as #instaperfect for lovers. (By the way, it’s also the only installation clearly visible from across the bay.)
i light Marina Bay Festival 2018.
A dreamy mushroom at Whareatua – Field of Dreams. According to the official website, Whareatua is the Māori term for New Zealand’s native white mushrooms.

GastroBeats

GastroBeats @ i Light Marina Bay was located at The Promontory i.e. within the still ongoing Prudential Marina Bay Carnival. This was a great arrangement for me, for despite what I wrote last December, I never again explored the carnival after that one visit.

At the same time, I felt having programmes within a carnival fairground infused i Light Marina Bay 2018 with festive variety. After seeing several installations solemnly standing by themselves in public spaces, it was refreshing to walk into a lively carnival. I also took the chance to have a break and a snack at the food section of the carnival.

i Light Marina Bay 2018 - GastroBeats
Playground for the young ones.
GastroBeats
Gastrobeats featured various wonderful backdrops for selfies.
GastroBeats at i light Marina Bay 2018
Great advice!

Marina Boulevard and Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade

i Light Marina Bay 2018 - MailboX
MailboX. This was great fun for the installation would demand you wake it up by making some noise. To which it would then receive enthusiastic shrieks and catcalls from festive goers.
Festival Night Market in Singapore
Festive stalls along Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade.
Dreamscape by Magdalena Radziszewska.
i Light Marina Bay 2018 – Dreamscape by Magdalena Radziszewska.
i Light Marina Bay 2018 - Octopoda
Nope. Not a War of the Worlds invasion but Octopoda. To fully bring him to life, you are supposed to play all eight of his drums simultaneously. (I didn’t have enough people around me!)
i Light Marina Bay 2018 - Light Play
Light Play. This reminded me of the Fortress of Solitude from the ’78 Superman movie.

(My feature pic right up above is Passage by Serge Maheu. Near to Light Play and Octopoda, it was full of excited selfie-takers)

ArtScience Museum Light Show

After a brief stop at the Illumi Bar, I ended the evening at the ArtScience Museum. The installation here reminded me a little of the one at NSM during the Night Festival, and in short, I quite enjoyed the techno-organic theme and music. (I watched it twice)

Also, the epilogue of the projection felt reminiscent of a certain scene in Silpheed. If you’ve ever played this retro shooter, you’d know what I mean.

ArtScience Museum Light Show 2018
i Light Marina Bay 2018 – Evergreen by Limelight.

i Light Marina Bay 2018 is ongoing till Apr 1, 2018.


i Light Singapore 2019.

Read my other Festive Celebrations in Singapore posts.

Summary
i Light Marina Bay 2018
Article Name
i Light Marina Bay 2018
Description
i Light Marina Bay 2018 is here! Once again, Singapore’s waterfront district is host to a parade of gorgeous, sustainable light-art installations.
Author
Scribbling Geek
Scribbling Geekhttps://www.scribblinggeek.com
Geek, gamer, writer, movie lover, photographer, and occasional graphic artist. I like to consider myself a one-stop content creator of sorts. But the truth is, I obsess over too many hobbies.

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