Chromatic Point of Light
2012
City of Bloomington YMCA Proposal
An ephemeral ever-changing light washes the surfaces of the sculpture as it responds to people traversing the site. Swaths of vibrant color transform the curved surfaces of the piece, creating constantly shifting patterns of color, light, and form in response to the movement of people walking by. The project is designed to encourage playful detours across the site and to promote accidental interactions and encounters among people with the end result being the exchange of smiles. Rings of limestone seating encircle the site like a ring of stones surrounds a campfire encouraging people to linger and talk. Sometimes the seemingly smallest of actions, a mere smile, has the greatest result: that of embracing an entire community. Chromatic Points of Light uses light, the universal symbol of hope, unity, truth, knowledge, and goodness, and changing colors as a metaphor for diversity, to join all people. From one point of light one person can spark a change that emanates the power of a whole community and from the multitude of colors inherent in the sculpture, can reflect “the vibrancy and diversity” of that community joined through the activities of the YMCA.
Chromatic Points of Light is a collaboration between Jiangmei Wu and Marleen Newman.