The City Luminous: Spectral Canopy Variation, 2015
5 minute excerpt
Multi-Projection video Installation; 14.5 minute loops
Friday, May 14- Sunday, June 28
The reprise was running from November 23rd to January 3rd. The City Luminous: Spectral Canopy was looping with works by other members of the Engineers of Illumination: Scott Stark, Elise Baldwin, Ben Wood and Kevin Cain
Every day after dark until midnight
This installation was reprised, (along with the four other artists who are a part of the Engineers of Illumination from November 18 through December 2015)
This documentation shows multi-screen projections on the windows of the bookstore at the California Historical Society's 678 Mission Street @ Jessie Alley
The City Luminous is a collage of archival material of the Panama Pacific International Exposition of
1915, checker boarded with expressionistic video segments inspired by innovators Walter D'Arcy Ryan,
the illuminating engineer of the PPIE and pioneer dancer/choreographer/inventor dancer Loie Fuller.
Laitala collaborated with Laura Ackley, author of San Francisco’s Jewel City (Heyday, 2015), transforming her into the Star Maiden, an allegorical statue from the PPIE. Laitala also invited dancer Jenny Stulberg to provide a tribute performance that captured the spirit of Loie Fuller, who helped raise funds to save the Palace of Fine Arts from destruction at the close of the Fair.
The City Luminous was the second in a series of projected light pieces that comprised the Engineers of
Illumination: A Projected Light Project by artist collective Optic Flare, March 5, 2015 through January 3,
2016. Engineers of Illumination is a series of artist-based, projected-light installations using the windows
of the California Historical Society building to honor the stunning achievements of the Panama-Pacific
International Exposition of 1915. Throughout the year, light-based artists were invited to create after-
dark artwork for these windows.
Laitala’s The City Luminous is funded by the Princess Grace Foundation, (Special Projects Grant),
California Historical Society, and Maurice Kanbar, with archival images provided by the California
Historical Society, Donna Ewald Huggins, the Exploratorium, Craig Baldwin, and the Internet Archive, Access to an original Star Maiden was provided by the Oakland Museum of California.
A recent photographic series has been funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission
Engineers of Illumination is supported by a grant from the Yerba Buena Community Benefit District.
Some press for this installation:
sciartinamerica.com/
blog.sfgate.com/artsandnot/2015/05/22/two-light-shows-brighten-night-sky-in-soma/#photo-642444
seattlepi.com/entertainment/slideshow/Lighting-Installations-Brighten-SOMA-110317/photo-8030955.php
m.sfgate.com/entertainment/slideshow/Lighting-Installations-Brighten-SOMA-110317/photo-8030943.php
ppie100.org/event/the-city-luminous-spectral-canopy-variation/
