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Eindhoven sends hope to the world with largest-ever site-specific light artwork

The annual GLOW light festival in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, sent a message of hope to the world this year with the creation of the largest site-specific light artwork ever created.

Entitled Connecting the Dots, the epic illumination covered more than 80km2 and comprised over 1500 LED lamps in 1000 red dots of 90 cm diametre in the sky and more than 20 000 red dots behind windows. 

The artwork, unveiled on November 12, wrapped Eindhoven in an enormous mantle of blue light interspersed with 1000 fixed and floating illuminated red dots. Visible from the safety of people’s homes in Eindhoven and its surrounding areas, the light artwork extended to the skies with the blue and red glow visible from some 60 km in the air.

Like so many other cultural events, the GLOW light art festival, which usually welcomes over 750 000 people annually, has been cancelled for 2020. Despite this, GLOW and the municipality of Eindhoven, which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary, wanted to do something for the city – and the world. 

These times we cannot visit each other, work together in the office, play sports or go out, it is more important than ever to feel connected,”

John Jorritsma, Mayor of Eindhoven.

As a result, Connecting the Dots, a one-off magical moment, takes GLOW’s “light is life” spirit and repurposes it for one special edition. It is designed to remind us that light represents life and connects us all. The organisers hope the result will provide a much-needed reminder that none of us are alone in this world. 

Connecting the Dots has three elements:

  • The blue dome projected light above Eindhoven is a work by Finnish light artist Kari Kola. The blue dome seeks a connection with nature and aims to create awareness for the planet.

  • Dutch light artist Ivo Schoofs adds life with a sea of beautiful red dots floating throughout the city, spreading light inside and out. These dots – actually over 1000 fully recyclable light balloons – symbolise the sense of connection that people need.

  • As an extension of the idea, 20000 of the city’s primary school children, inspired by Dutch designer Hugo Vrijdag, have spent the last few weeks making their very own red GLOWdots. 

Connecting the Dots was also visible to people from all over the world via a livestream.

More information available at https://www.gloweindhoven.nl/en

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Images courtesy GLOW Eindhoven, photos by Paul Raats, Christopher Lund

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