Light Topography investigates our inability to correctly interpret the surrounding environment. More than two hundred uneven pyramids are assembled inside a square frame of one meter by one meter, catching light from all around and reflecting part of it to the nearby elements. A big window overlooks a landscape that is not in a steady state, but is constantly changing. The spectator is then required to take time in order to experience the change and to give its personal interpretation. The landscape is deliberately an abstract three-dimensional composition, its aim is purely aesthetic, and it was selected through a number of physical experiments for its ability to transform the colored light coming from the light source into an apparently flat colored surface. In this installation the Voronoi algorithm was used as a pattern to generate the uneven landscape. The geometric structures of Voronoi diagrams often appear in nature: in cells, air bubbles, and crystals. They create characteristic balance-seeking boundaries. But we have no clue of its scale: it could be perceived both as the natural geometry of a leaf seen through a microscope or as a rocky panorama seen from the window of a plane when flying over the Alps. A static image has been selected from an infinite number of potential variations, but it’s still mutable through light

Light Topography 100x100x19 cm, MDF frame, white matte polystyrene 0.3 mm, LEDs, code

Project: Elena Panza, Onformative · Light design: Elena Panza · Photos: Carlo Cattani