For those of you who don’t already know, SXSW (South by Southwest) is a week-long music, film, and interactive art festival held in Austin, Texas every March. This year’s festival will be held next week, from March 13 to March 22. If you’re planning on attending (or are otherwise interested in amazing works of light and sound), be sure to check out the 2015 Eco Light Garden, set to take place on Sunday, March 15 through Saturday, March 21 from 7:00pm to 2:00am each night at Republic Square Park. This annual project allows attendees to interact with and be entertained by various applications of LED lights and lighting technology—and perhaps the best part is that admission is free (no wristband required). Here’s the 411 on some talented artists participating in this year’s event.
Aerosol Warfare Studios Hailing from Houston, TX, Aerosol Warfare has been creating urban art for over 20 years using all forms of media, such as aerosol, graffiti, outsider, street and hip hop arts. For the SXSW 2015 Eco Light Garden, they will be installing an 8 x 8 ft. cube made of wood frames and plexiglass. During the day the installation will be a live performance in which an artist will paint (in reverse) on the inside of the cube so that spectators can see the art developing from the outside looking in. At night the cube will be lit as a beautiful, glowing sculpture.
Houndstooth Houndstooth Studios specializes in motion design, interactive installations, experience design, sound design, large scale projection content, and music composition. At last year’s SXSW celebration, Houndstooth was commissioned to build a series of interactive light sculptures for the Eco Light Garden—a trend which is continuing this year. Now, they will be featuring a “Wave Wall” that is fully lit and reacts to movement as visitors pass by, as shown in our featured image. Be sure to check it out!
Ink Tank Art Collective Ink Tank is an Austin-based artist collective composed of thirteen individuals who specialize in conceptual environments and public art. Over the last four years, their work has been presented at various events in Austin and San Antonio. For this year's Eco Light Garden, they will be building the Ink Tank Enchanted Wishing Well. It will have audio and light components that "come alive" when viewers interact with the installation.
Lumenpulse Based out of Canada, Lumenpulse is an LED lighting manufacturer that creates gorgeous luminaires for commercial buildings. The company’s products allow designers to solve all types of lighting challenges in spaces ranging from small office interiors to large stadiums and resorts. For this year's Eco Light Garden, they'll be lighting up trees at the entrance to the park along West 4th Street. Flood lights will be used to light the underside of the canopies and give the appearance that the trees are glowing from below. There will also be a device allowing attendees to change the color and shows.
Crash Alchemy Crash Alchemy is an interdisciplinary collaborative in Austin, TX that creates stage shows and live experiences using performance, music, fine art, and technology. Their shows include dancers, actors, artists, aerialists, acrobats, 3D video mappers, interactive technology designers, animators, and musicians. What part of that doesn’t sound amazing? Catch Crash Alchemy at Republic Square Park next week to see what amazing shows they've got going on!
Gadeken Charles Gadeken has been working as a professional artist in the Bay Area for 20 years. Charles' work has thus far incorporated mixed metals, interactive and kinetic elements, and special effects using fire, light, and electricity. His artwork has been commissioned for festivals and community celebrations all over the west coast, including Coachella, Burning Man, Insomniac Events, Maker Faire, and now the SXSW Eco Light Garden.
Barco Barco is a global technology company that designs and develops visualization products, from LED displays and digital signage to 3D sounds, projectors, and software services. Their wide variety of advanced technological products should make for an exciting exhibit at the Eco Light Garden.
Praxis Creatives Praxis Creatives was founded in 2014 with the intention of “building things…awesome things.” Most of their work is focused on multimedia and architecture—guess we’ll just have to see what they have in store on Sunday evening!
Gav Vot Gav Vot is featuring an interactive light and sound art installation called "Primary Sound." Check out the awesome drone footage below!
This year’s Eco Light Garden lineup is full of talented lighting artists and designers, making it well-worth checking out whether you’re attending SXSW or simply in the 512 area. So what do you think—will you take an evening visit to Republic Square Park next week? We’d love to hear about your plans below or on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or Instagram!
