27 Jul 2016

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Get ready to see Christchurch’s Botanic Gardens in a whole new light.

Ara Institute of Canterbury creative industries students have come up with video installations inspired by the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip for this year’s Botanic D’Lights event.

Botanic D’Lights transforms the Gardens into a spectacle of illuminated art and innovative light installations for five nights from August 3 and entry is by gold coin donation. Ara students’ ideas will feature in several installations, alongside work by other leading artists and designers.

Tim Budgen, Ara Design and Digital Multimedia Tutor, said about 13 of his third-year students had worked on three video-based light installations for Botanic D’Lights using a “Lost Vegas” theme as a starting point. They include a structure suspended above a pond, images projected on to a large eucalyptus tree, and a large, interactive cube structure.

Mr Budgen said the students were excited to make work that would be assessed but also go into a public exhibition. “There’s some imagery that’s related to casinos, card suits, the desert, and the wider idea of lost things and hidden worlds and unusual spaces. There’s some quite abstract work and some quite literal, graphic work. It’s all quite diverse." A striking fire graphic was produced by Renzo Bonifacio. 

Another student, Hannah Mackintosh, 20, has created a moving Elvis image portraying The King performing in a rhinestone-encrusted white jacket, a showgirl and a tiger image, all inspired by the Lost Vegas theme, that will be used in the cube installation. She is excited about seeing her work in public during Botanic D’Lights and said taking part had been a challenging but valuable experience. “I’ve only seen my work in public once before, it’s completely different to seeing if on a computer screen. It’s a really good opportunity and I’d like to do it again. It’s such a good idea to ask young artists to be involved and give their work some exposure.”

Mr Budgen said partnering video with lighting design gave students another string to their bow, and many would not have considered it as a career option before taking part in this project. Ara has partnered with audiovisual production companies to construct the installations.

* Botanic D'Lights is on in the Botanic Gardens between 6 and 9pm from August 3 to 7. Entry is by gold coin donation.