Starting this week on November 11th, the international light festival GLOW will illuminate the public spaces of Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Featuring around 30 artists from the Netherlands and abroad, this grand exhibition connects various projects through a designated walking route.
In the 2019 edition of the festival, more than 750,000 visitors attended thus making GLOW Eindhoven one of the top 5 most visited light festivals in the world. The theme of this year’s festival is called “The Beat”. But “a beat” is more than just the rhythmic part of a piece of music. The beat is fundamental to life. The beat of our surroundings fires us up and cools us down. It defines the rhythm of the city, the pulse of the people who live there, the buzz of our interplay with each other, and the pattern of our lives.
The inspiration for this idea? The idea of a lightbulb pulsating (beating), the light spreading and ultimately connecting everyone everywhere. The festival this year aims to identify what makes a city a city and put it out there. In this way, the artists are going to create a magical, energizing, rollercoaster of a festival that is inclusive of everyone.
The artists will be exploring new techniques and technologies that cover sustainability, materials, and energy use of new original works and the role of light in the community. Something else that would be explored at the festival is the practicalities. These include how the organizations can help visitors to experience the festival more personally and individually.
GLOW’s vision of light art for all, based on a combination of high tech, design, and creativity, is unique because it enables anyone to get involved as a creator, enabler, or participant.
Here are some of the light art pieces created by different studios or artists that will take part in this year’s festival.
Rhythm
Starting with Rhythm, this first piece starts from small sparkles of light that grow and evolve into interwoven strands of DNA. Inspired by the liveliness of fireflies circling around each other, Rhythm suggests that everything in our world is interconnected. From this interpretation, everyone’s heart beats to an ever-evolving rhythm, with our minds eventually flowing together. Rhythm also captures the pule of the people who live in the city. Just like each instrument’s notes sync to create a musical masterpiece, everybody’s contributions matter in our community. This is mirrored in the strong bond between ASML and the Brainport region, which share the same DNA and a common background.
Evolution of Life
Evolution of Life opens a passageway to a serene place, evoking mindfulness and feelings of happiness. Immersive nature-themed visualizations and soundscapes blend in with the cityscape of Eindhoven. This artwork brings an earth-inspired environment to life, awakening people’s senses. For the first time in this capacity, the iconic Emmasingel is one of the eye-catchers of GLOW Eindhoven. A team of ASML artists is transforming this grand boulevard into an idyllic world, where the hearts of all people and the wider community are beating in harmony. Evolution of Life combines a variety of technologies such as projections, light effects, animations, 3D motion effects, and soundscapes together into one shared collective experience.
Grand Mix
Inook’s Grand Mix presents joyful sounds and light shows based on centuries-old faces from the collection of the Rijksmuseum. It’s a performance of individuals you’ve previously seen in a silent or classical pose. During the GLOW festival, these portraits are going to come to life, creating a musical spectacle on both sides of Wilhelminaplein. They are going to perform a series of his, spanning across different music genres such as hip-hop, pop, and rock. Alongside an unpredictable choir, you’ll find familiar faces from Eindhoven and the muses of the greatest masters of painting: Rembrandt and Van Gogh.
Connecting Your Love
Throughout the entire month of November, the vitrines at Eindhoven Airport feature a unique collaboration to announce the light festival GLOW, taking place from November 11th to the 18th in the heart of Eindhoven. For thousands of years, butterflies in China have symbolized love. Among all the romantic mythologies, it is the butterfly that continues to captivate generation after generation, surprising people as they flutter by. The Chinese myth that inspired ASML for this project revolves around love and passion for one beloved. The myth tells of a bridge formed by butterflies once a year – the seventh day of the seventh month on the calendar. This bridge reconnects you with your loved ones, reuniting separated couples and helping lost friends and family find their connection once more, no matter where we are in the world.
Blossom
The constant change of seasons has inspired Studio Toer to recreate the Japanese cherry blossom. the first color of spring is going to unfold on the streets in De Elzent. The metamorphosis of spring has never stopped to astonish with its splendid palette of colors. This has been the reason for Studio Toee to create this piece of work. Blossom is a tribute to the blossom and conveys the message that beneath the surface the first buds of blossoms are developing.
With its remarkable ability to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, GLOW reminds us that art knows no boundaries and that light, in all its forms, remains a powerful medium for storytelling and connection.