Little Sun returns to London with Sunlight Graffiti at Winter Lights Festival
“Now this was one that I particularly enjoyed. After queuing up for a short while, we were ushered into a dark box and handed a ‘Little Sun’ solar lamp. Through long exposure, you could draw shapes in the air with your light and see it all come together in a finished photograph. I thought this was great, not only because it left you with something to remember it by, but also because of its focus on environmental sustainability, allowing us to hold the power of the Sun in our hands”.
Ciara Murphy, blogger
Ciara was one of the over 2000 people who played with our Little Suns in our booth at the Winter Lights Festival at Canary Wharf in London from January 16 to 27. The event showcased work from innovative artists and designers from across the globe, who presented spectacular light installations and interactive art in different forms of light technology.
Taking place after dark, the festival illuminated the Canary Wharf skyline and was free to attend. It was targeting not just art lovers, but people of all ages and backgrounds – the perfect match for Little Sun!
Our Sunlight Graffiti is an integral part of the Little Sun project, it first featured at the Tate Modern back in July 2012- so we were delighted to once again return to London, having also been to the capital in September 2017 for the launch of the Little Sun Diamond. In a Sunlight Graffiti booth, we encourage visitors to make their own work of art through drawing with light, by using a Little Sun lamp. Instead of simply observing art with our eyes, Sunlight Graffiti encourages us to engage our bodies in the interpretation of art. Visitors are invited to make their own work of art through dancing, jumping and writing with a Little Sun in their hands
Our booth at the Winter Lights event was a tremendous success, judging by the long queues to take part (with some people prepared to queue for up to two hours!) and an estimated 2000 people of a variety of ages and nationalities passing through the photo booth over the 12 days during which the event took place. The big smiles on the faces of those leaving the booth as well as the warm thanks we received from participants confirmed the success of the installation.
The hashtag #sunlightgraffiti was used during the event and produced a fantastic array of photos, highlighting the fun and creativity evoked by interacting with the Little Suns.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Be20CVqjTiU/?hl=en&tagged=sunlightgraffiti
Sunlight Graffiti has featured all over the world, from London (Tate Modern, 2012) to California (Coachella Festival, 2014) to Barcelona (Sónar Festival, 2016), putting the power of the sun in the palm of your hand and enabling you to make a unique work of art by harnessing the awesome power of the sun. The creative process of producing sunlight graffiti takes place in a dark room; making participants aware of what it means to not have light and electricity, as well as highlighting the power of the sun. It does this in a playful, creative manner – making it a personal experience that is nevertheless accessible to all.
We would like to say a big thank you to Susannah Fields and her team on the ground as well as the Canary Wharf staff, without whom this event could not have taken place! Their enthusiasm and support meant everything ran smoothly and everyone left the booth smiling!
Photo Credits: Susannah Field
