This summer a large portion of our creative efforts were devoted to the Luminous Garden — a large-scale group collaboration creating an experience of an otherworldly garden biosphere, one with luminous flora and fauna and interactive kinetic sculptures.
Please see our summary slideshow of the experience: http://www.slideshare.net/ShellyDFarnhamPhD/take-a-virtual-walk-through-the-luminous-garden
This project was originally created as an installation for Electric Sky. It was funded in part by 4Culture, and was sponsored by Third Place Technologies and the Town of Skykomish.
Our basic framework was to provide an overarching experiential design theme “taking a walk in an otherworldly garden arboretum”, and then recruit other artists, technologists, scientists, and designers to take on aspects of that theme, playing with technologically infused, interactive and self-illuminated organic objects or sculptural garden elements. As a part of the design framework, we also designed and implemented the lighting, path, and portal to the garden.
A primary goal of the garden was to foster interdisciplinary collaboration through a larger group installation, and we feel we were quite successful. We had 19 participating projects and over 80 artists, technologists, and designers actively collaborating, learning from each other and creating inspiring works. It was very well received by locals in Skykomish at Electric Sky, and enjoyed by thousands when installed later in the summer at Lusio (Volunteer Park) and Arts-a-Glow (Burien).
