The interactive Cloud sculpture was created by Calgary based artist Caitlind r.c. Brown in collaboration with musician and artist, Wayne Garrett. The installation was staged for one night only as a contribution to the Nuit Blanche Calgary on September 15th.
The artists like to explore themes of public interaction within their work in addition to creating low cost installations with discarded items. The project began by asking for donations of spent light bulbs within their community, 5.000 were collected and another 1.000 new bulbs were added. A steel frame was built to hold the old and new bulbs which were then lit from inside the frame with 250 compact fluorescent bulbs, consuming as much energy as two domestic outlets.
The installation proved to be popular with the viewers who participated in pulling the strings to control the illumination, a party like atmosphere developed as they tried in vain to coordinate the on and off switches. The visual impact of this piece is stunning even before the participation element, the pull strings resemble a localized downpour of rain but the whole project comes to life with the human element, exactly as the artists intended.
