Edinburgh Napier University

  This one night light art installation was commissioned by Heriot Watt University to mark the Scottish Closing Ceremony of the International Year of Light.

The commission was inspired by the ‘Magic Lantern’ event carried out earlier the same year. For that event, Innes used creative lighting, sound and projection to interpret complex theories of light and colour.

This commission for the closing event specifically requested the recreation of the ‘Harmonic Pathway’, a route lined with vertically mounted fluorescent tubes, wrapped in coloured theatrical gels selected to create a chromatic range of colour representing the whole spectrum of visible light.

Other elements of the installation included animated projections mapped onto the base of an existing sculpture of James Watt. The projections interpreted Watts most famous scientific work in the advancement of steam power.

The installation also featured a preprogrammed light show that abstractly interpreted the use of light in communications and visualised aspects of theoretical quantum research into light carried out by physicists at Heriot Watt University. The show element was presented to the invited audience of several hundred dignitaries and school groups. The IllumiNations event was also streamed live around the world.

The project was funded by an ESPRC Impact Award. The light art installations featured extensively in televised news reports of the closing ceremony and in press and social media coverage of the event.