Light-Art Concert

On December 19, 2008, the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra in Jena, Germany, performed works by composers Alexander Scriabin, Igor Stravinsky and Georg Friedrich Haas in a concert hall filled with 170 weather balloons that changed color to complement and enhance the music–the joint effort between an artist and members of the Future Lighting Solutions network.

The unusual light/music event was inspired by Scriabin’s 1910 “Prometheus: Poem of Fire” symphony, written for orchestra, piano, voice and a piano-like “color organ” designed to project colored light onto an on-stage screen. Some musicologists believed, however, that Scriabin’s original intention was to flood the entire concert hall with color and that he abandoned the idea when it proved to be technically unfeasible.

Nearly a century later, technology-savvy music fans recognized an opportunity to revisit Scriabin’s color concept with power LEDs. With that in mind, Stuttgart artist Rosalie was commissioned to create a color-changing installation to accompany the Prometheus symphony as well as Stravinsky’s Firebird and a piano sonata by contemporary Austrian composer Haas. The project was dubbed “LUCE: The Sound of Color” after the Italian word for light as well as the “Luce” color organ itself.

The artist’s plan called for hanging 170 translucent latex-based weather balloons in eight different sizes above the audience, on the balustrades and between the aisles at the Volkshaus Jena concert hall. RGB LED modules inside each balloon would change color on a pre-programmed schedule paralleling the mood and tempo of the music. The balloons and color changes would also be reflected on a mirror behind the orchestra, amplifying the eff ects of the installation.

Color sensor developer MAZeT GmbH and manufacturer JENOPTIK AG signed on as the main sponsors of the performance, with assistance from German LED solutions provider MAL Effekt Technik and LED distributor/solutions support service Future Lighting Solutions to build the LED portion of the installation.

Working together, the team delivered a complete solution matched to the artist’s specifications, including a closed-loop color and brightness management system that was essential to achieving color consistency from balloon to balloon.

Craig DiLouie

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