OUGD601/2 LEEDS LIGHT NIGHT 2016

I went to Leeds Light Night on it's opening night, Thursday 6th October 2016. This was partly for my own enjoyment, as being in my third year at LCA I had yet to go to Light Night, but also for related research for my COP dissertation, as my question "How can interactive design be used to make people more active in their everyday lives?" will involve art installations, and interactive art, which is exactly what Light Night is all about.

Light Water, Dark Sky, at Leeds Dock
This was the immersive, floating, sound and light installation by SquidSoup and Four Tet at Leeds Dock. It was the installation that I was most interested in seeing, as it combines both lights and music to create an semi interactive experience. It definitely lived up to expectations. You were given headphones as you entered the walkway down to the installation, and once everyone was on the floating pontoon, the music started playing. There were loads of dangling circular lights hanging down from a frame to almost ground level, which flashed different colours in tune to the music. These two elements combined created such a relaxing atmosphere, and you could see everyone was enjoying themselves from the inspired looks on their faces. The only downside was that it was over far too quickly, lasting only a short few minutes.
As being relevant to my COP question, the installation hasn't directly made people more active, however it has got them out of their houses during the evening, or made them walk out of their way to visit the installation, which does technically make them more active from their everyday routine. The difference between this installation and Volkswagen's piano staircase is that people actively seek out LightWater, Dark Sky, and chose to go and see it specifically, whereas Volkswagen's piano staircase you come across in your daily routine, you don't seek it out, but you have two options to get to your end goal presented to you. It simply makes the normally less attractive option more attractive. Light Water, Dark Sky is less of an option presented to you in your everyday routine, you are required to seek it out, which would result in not as many people experiencing it than if it was presented to you, not having to go out of your way to experience it.

Leeds Light Night at Trinity Centre

Relation to PPP
This was a really good experience for me, as this is the third year I've been in Leeds for Light Night, but this was only the first time I've been. It's a really interesting experience to see how they transform the city into a light based art exhibition. It was also great to see how many ordinary people interact with this arts night, as the city was heaving with people of all ages and backgrounds. It is a real community event that gets everyone out their homes, which as really inspirational to see, as these people have gone out of their way to interact with art.

Relation to Context of Practice
Light Night is a massive form of interactive art, which is so relevant to my COP essay title: "how can interactive design be used to help people be more active in their everyday life?". Light Night gave me loads of ideas for interactive art installations, from projections to physical moving installations that you are encouraged to touch.