Historic Belgian city Bruges has been illuminated with a 2km walk-through lighting and visual experience for the festive "Wintergloed" (Winter Glow) season, using atmospheric light installations from Painting with Light (PWL).
The company was commissioned by Bruges Plus, the organisation responsible for the city's cultural events, and has designed a series of ephemeral lighting and projection-mapped installations in six different areas, each inspired, according to PWL, by "an aspect of the warmth and hospitality of the people of Bruges and its many visitors over the different generations".
PWL added that some of the artworks are playful, some use synesthetic philosophies and ideas related to colour changing and mood empathy, while others "riff with nearby textures, materials and natural elements like water reflections".
Locations within the city include the Station Square and the 19m-high Poertoren Tower, which was built in 1401 to store the city's gunpowder. In Station Square a special construction is "The Cathedral", a combined wooden and tented structure with arched ends that are 10m square and 11m high. Inside is the video projection system, with five machines rigged to project onto opposite walls or up into the vaulted roof.
Further installations are "The Bridge" – a light art installation in the city's King Albert I Park – and "The Gate" and "The Source". The Gate was inspired by Bruges' many gates and comprises ten partial gates made from custom-made LED pixel profiles, arranged to play with perspective and create a tunnel effect. The Source is a geometric work comprising 30 LED strings that span an 18 by 23 metre gap across the Minnewater Lake, between an ice skating rink and a winter terrace.
Another major aspect of the Wintergloed concept was to invite local artists to use The Cathedral as a canvas, using light and VR as their medium, rather than paint.
PWL worked with a number of different companies in bringing the Wintergloed project to fruition, including Panasonic, John&Jane, EVM, 71 Rentals, Epix InventDesign and Screenit.
Wintergloed continues until 5 January 2020.
