Thursday 13 December 2018

REPORTAGE: Lightwaves 2018 - Media City, Salford.






Lightwaves is a free, and mostly outdoor installation which is a combination of science and artistry, displaying 19 exhibits which can be found inside and between The Lowry Theatre and Outlet Mall to inside and between Media City. According to the map there were two installations inside one of the buildings at media City - between ITV and The Studios, but I was unable to locate them.

Of the ones I did see, then some of them were pretty - but most had a real scientific application to them as well, and a few were even interactive. One of the simplest but also clearest to understand and to teach children about electric current was the heart - by 2 people holding hands and passing an electric current through their bodies it lit a large red heart of lights. The other sculpture which I thought noteworthy was The Spectrum, a series of hollow identical circles placed equidistant from each other in a straight line. The lights inside are voice-activated, and so by making a noise at one end it sets off a chain-reaction of light along the whole 'tube'.

Try as I might, I did not understand the Youth Culture statue - a large man of coloured lights and video cameras / screens. I assume it must be highly clever, but sadly it evaded both me and the three people I met at the statue, who also didn't understand the point of it. I didn't understand the large squirrel either - but it was certainly one of the more interesting and eye-catching of the exhibits, as it changed colour from almost pure white to a varying degree of hues and pixels.

Other exhibits came from Blackpool illuminations, including what will undoubtedly prove to be the star attraction of this installation - 4 daleks and Dr. Who's tardis.

These exhibits are open daily from 4pm until 10:30pm until 16 December. If you are in the vicinity then they are certainly worth checking out, but I wouldn't advise making a special journey for them.

Reportage - Matthew Dougall
on - 12/12/18

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