The night sky above English Bay will blaze with light during the 2010 Games in a massive lightshow that will be seen from as far away as Richmond.
Vectorial Elevation, a temporary art installation by Mexican-born Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, features 20 robotic searchlights installed at Vanier Park and Second Beach.
The 10,000-watt searchlights will trace patterns — created online by people from around the world — in the night sky and will be visible from 15 kilometres away.
“It’s going to be spectacular,” said Rich Newirth, the city’s acting managing director of cultural services.
More than two million people will see the installation, which will run from dusk until dawn during the Games. It has previously been installed in Mexico, Spain, Ireland and France.
VANOC and the city commissioned the Vancouver version.
Vectorial Elevation is considered one of the largest art installations in the world. It is also hugely interactive, Newirth said.
“People actually can go online and choreograph the lights and the lights will respond to their interaction on the computer.”
When the display was in Mexico City, more than 800,000 people went online to design their own light art, he added. People will be able to visit vectorialvancouver.net to design their show.
A personalized webpage will be created for each design and it is estimated that 130,000 different patterns will be created for a 24-day period, beginning Feb. 4.
“It’s going to be quite a wonderful thing that people will really enjoy and remember.”
