A sustainable light art extravaganza at i Light Singapore 2022.
i Light Singapore 2022 is on. Happening from now till June 26th, 2022, and featuring some 20 sustainable light art installations at Marina Bay.
To be honest, I thought this annual festival was gone for good, or cancelled for the third time. Previously a February-March thing, it did seem as if the reopening/relaxation of COVID-19 precautions weren’t soon enough for this year’s festival to happen?
Well, it’s here, and being scheduled for this month is probably a good idea, the June school holidays and all that. Like previous festivals, sustainability also takes centerstage again, with art installations made from repurposed waste and objects, and the theme of environmentalism prevalent throughout.
Popping up at a choice spot is a reminder of what all of us just went through too. Ping Lim and Ian Grossberg’s Alone Together (photo below) is pretty gameshow-like and ticklish. But if you have any memory of what happened in 2020, I think you’d find it hard not to be affected.
I guess the veiled message this time round is also, if we don’t look after the environment, what eventually hits is going to be far worse than COVID.
Re-evaluating Our Commitment to Sustainability
Compared to 2019, yes, I still remember, i Light Singapore 2022 is less strenuous to navigate. The art installations and light projects form a straightforward U around Marina Bay, with the partnering GastroBeats 2022 right next to the route.
Further on the Spark of Light theme, violet is the colour with the shortest wavelength in the visible light spectrum. The most “powerful” as well. i Light 2022 correspondingly uses this colour to represent an awakening of the senses. The likes of ideas coming to life within human minds.
Right beside Shish-ka-buoy, at the heart of The Promontory, is TOER’s Firefly Field. A simulation of fireflies dancing over a field, this whimsical installation attracted a large crowd; everyone was enthusiastically snapping pictures.
I myself find it magically serene, truly like the brilliant firefly ballets one sees in Anime. What’s more incredible is that the lights never stopped moving when I was there. This, despite there being no wind at all.
Opps, a clarification. Lightwave: Isle of Light empowered by OPPO isn’t an art installation. Instead, it’s a ticketed programme. One that allows you to experience the festival from a specially constructed pontoon.
(I wanted to buy a ticket for Lightwave, but guess what happened. I totally forgot! Worse, I only realised I forgot when I was at the festival. Like CDs and plastic, maybe it’s time for me to be recycled …)
i Light Singapore 2022 is ongoing till June 26, 2022. Officially, the “lights” are on from 7.30 pm to 11 pm, with extended hours to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.
I was at Esplanade Park at 7 pm and the installations were already lit. However, as you can see from my topmost pictures, you will want the sun to be gone before you start your visit.
Read my other Festive Celebrations in Singapore posts.
