Illuminated decorative sphere at an electronic music event
An illuminated sphere suspended above the dance floor was the visual anchor of Heatwave, an electronic music event. Lamps placed outside the structure lit it, with mapping shifting the colour in time with the set.
The sphere hangs at the centre of the space and organises the entire set design around it. Four fabric bands radiate outwards and fasten to the courtyard walls, so the canopy over the dance floor reads as a single object rather than a set of separate parts. From the crowd you see a glowing form and the rays running from it.
The light is not inside but outside. Lamps stand clear of the structure and wash the skin from above and from the sides, while mapping shifts colour and intensity along with the music. The sphere therefore looks different all evening – from cool white to deep orange – and its surface works like a screen on which every change of scene is visible.
This is a use of the sphere that has little to do with advertising. There is no print and no logo: the structure works as a set piece that builds atmosphere and gives photographers a reference point in frame. In the event photographs the sphere appears in the background of almost every shot – and that is its real value to the organiser.
A light pneumatic structure has one advantage over stage equipment: it needs no truss and no crane. It hangs on lines strung between existing points and packs into a bag afterwards – which, for a one-night event in a historic courtyard, is often the only workable answer.
