This makes me feel Connected Delighted Intrigued Surprised at an Cultural / Public scale
Waterlight Graffiti
Antonin Fourneau has created a new material for traveling exhibitions and a new approach to urban art
Antonin Fourneau has created an entirely new artistic material for use in urban art installation. He builds panels of cheap LEDS. These LEDS illuminate when they get wet. The water creates and electrical connection, so the LED illuminates. The wetter it gets, the brighter the light becomes. Fourneau applied this technology to create a surface upon which any member of the public with any level of artistic skill (or not) can draw, paint, or write quickly and easily. People can interact with the wall using spray cans, paintbrushes, even a wet cloth. The walls, which have been installed all over the world, invite viewers to participate and to create imaginatively without having to think too hard. The process invites experimentation. It creates joy. It also allows for the sharing of inner thoughts and messages in a medium that is entirely transient. The water dries and the artwork goes away. It is an in the moment, by the moment, for the moment type of work.
It also provides a surface upon which graffiti can find a non-destructive place to live in the urban environment. It removes the stigma from graffiti painting and offers another solution to elevate voices through self-expression.
Contributer notes
What is surprising, refreshing, most interesting?
This work turns everything we know about electricity on its head to create an experience that is joyful. In order to make art here, one has to pour water onto LEDs. There is a sense of joy and wonder created when the artist grants people permission to do a thing they are not supposed to, and the end result is beautiful.
Key Insights? What can we learn from this?
Sometimes all one has to do in order to create an experience is to provide the materials.