LIGHT SHOWER Installation / Bruce Munro

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LIGHT SHOWER

Light Shower is a lighting installation which was designed to be suspended from high within the spire crossing of the historic thirteenth century Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire, UK. It is made of 2,000 points of light, that hover like a luminescent cloud near the vaulting roof. Conceived in response to the space in such a way as not to block the view from any point, but to shimmer delicately like gossamer, Light Shower was made to enhance rather than compete with the famous architecture of this vibrant place of worship.

It took Bruce and his team five days to install. Once the testing process was complete, Light Shower was switched on for the first time during the Darkness into Light procession to mark the start of Advent at Salisbury Cathedral.

Though ethereal, Light Shower covers a massive area 10m x 10m x 7m.It took 400 man hours to make it, and 232 man hours to install.Light Shower is powered by 8 x 150 watt metal halide projectors.

The inspiration - Bruce Munro

In 2008 I was invited to propose some alternative lighting designs for a contemporary highland lodge at the head of loch Osian in Scotland.

My remit was simply to try to humanise the austerity of the architecture and make it both atmospheric and functional for its owners. Opportunities like this are not an everyday occurrence.

I found myself sitting on a step, halfway up the main stairs absorbing a magnificent, uninterrupted view of the loch and group of snow capped Munros behind.

It was raining in squalls against the plate glass window. The view was distorted by rivulets of water streaming down the (9 x 4 metre) panoramic pane. The words “light and shower” registered in my mind and I had my idea.

It took over a year to get the water droplets working in the way I envisaged. The first installation of “light shower” now hangs motionless as if suspended in time, overlooking, but not interrupting the view of loch Osian. By day it catches glimpses of the sunshine, shedding prismatic flecks of light onto the stairs, by night it morphs into what it is, a shower of light, but twice as big, as it reflects upon itself in the darkest window north of Glasgow.

Data

Name: LIGHT SHOWER
Location: Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
Type: Lighting Installation
Materials Combination: Glass
Colour: Transparent
Year: 2011

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