Preparations for Aberdeen’s annual light festival, Spectra Aberdeen 2016, are underway as school children learn to become architectural light designers.
Around 250 primary school children have this week learned to wire a battery operated light-box which they have decorated and customised themselves.
The light-boxes will be transformed into a giant sculpture - Many Hands Make Light Work.
The sculpture is the brainchild of international artists Sharon Lupton and Martin Stammers of Light Collective – who have previously created a similar project in Singapore and have now brought it to the UK for the first time.
The artists have taken part in a series of workshops with the children this week to educate them on how the lights are created and how colours can be reflected.
Aberdeen City Council Deputy Leader Councillor Marie Boulton said: “I’m delighted to see the interactive and inclusive approach this year’s artists and their installations are bringing to Aberdeen’s Festival of Light this year.
“The learning and education as well as the fun and creativity these workshops have brought to so many children is fantastic.
“I’m already looking forward to seeing the children’s artwork lit up in Union Terrace Gardens - in what is set to be the biggest and most dazzling festival of light the city has seen.”
The school pupils have decorated their boxes with their own interpretation of the rainbow using light and a spectrum of colour.
Sharon Lupton said: “The idea behind this project is to make art accessible and get the local community involved.
“The children have been fantastic to work with as a whole and are extremely interested in the project.
“They have been given the chance to be as creative as they want and will then get the chance to see their work displayed as part of something much bigger.
“We’re delighted to bring this project to Aberdeen –it’s the first time we’ve done this project in the UK and we’re happy to be working here on home soil.”
The installation is part of Aberdeen’s third light festival which is set to be the biggest array of lighting displays, interactive installations and beautiful sounds from internationally acclaimed artists.
It will feature in Union Terrace Gardens from February 11-14, 2016 alongside an interactive digital light display known as The Pool and illuminated by a display of fire power put together by Pa-Boom
Over the past three years - the festival has grown rapidly and has now moved from one site to four locations thanks to increasing partnership opportunities between the cultural and business sector. The light festival offers a unique opportunity for cross over activity and partnerships that reflect the strength of industries in the North-east.
The event will incorporate the historic Kirk of St Nicholas as a backdrop for innovative installations using light and sound – in celebration of the Scottish Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design. The graveyard of the medieval church will also be transformed into a meditative light garden.
Art and culture hub, Seventeen, will also host a series of hands on Table-Top Experiments incorporating light and sound using materials native to Aberdeen such as oil, water and granite.
Marischal College will be transformed with light into a tribute to the most influential innovators of Aberdeen including the unveiling of a new plaque to commemorate the pioneering work of Aberdeen’s colossus of science James Clerk Maxwell.
SPECTRA will also support a new artist development programme with the city’s newest arts studio The Anatomy Rooms.