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The free community event features the large-scale performance spectacle Beautiful Light by D.A. Therrien, with the 110-foot-wide 4 LETTER WORD MACHINE sculpture suspended more than 120 feet above Scottsdale Waterfront. Additional artworks and activities are planned for each evening. Volunteer opportunities are available. In performances throughout the night, operator-performers will manipulate the massive array of quartz lamps via a dramatic custom designed switching system. Four alphanumeric displays flash brilliant bolts of white light. Some of the light bursts represent fundamentals of life - FATE, LOVE, HOPE - yet most are simply an ambiguous string of constantly transitioning patterns. An audience interactive component will allow people to change the display and work with each other to attempt to spell words and make patterns. BEAUTIFUL LIGHT by D.A. Therrien (Phoenix, AZ) was the headliner for the international event Toronto Nuit Blanche in October 2009, the largest contemporary art event of its kind in North America. The March 2011 appearance at Scottsdale Waterfront is a rare opportunity to see this spectacular and mesmerizing display. “Beautiful Light is a mesmerizing art encounter and a spectacular display, both frenzied and methodical…at once compelling and confounding…a must-see art experience that touches lives.” Valerie Vadala Homer, Director, Scottsdale Public Art. BEAUTIFUL LIGHT delivers a one of a kind immersive experience at the only downtown canal waterfront in Arizona. It appeals to both arts enthusiasts as well as people looking for something unique to do on a weekend night. Initiating new and innovative works and community events such as Beautiful Light, as well as traditional artworks and events, helps maintain Scottsdale’s reputation as a leading arts destination. Since the arts are a key economic driver as a tourist destination for Scottsdale, Scottsdale Public Art seeks to further strengthen our cachet as an arts destination. BEAUTIFUL LIGHT is an original commission of the Scottsdale Public Art Program.PROMO VIDEOS
WWW.BEAUTIFULLIGHT.ORG International artist and Phoenix native D.A. Therrien, renowned for his dramatic, high-voltage art spectacle performances, debuted his large-scale artwork BEAUTIFUL LIGHT in Scottsdale, Ariz. January 2009. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art, Therrien’s two-night only installation and performance was suspended more than 80 feet over the Arizona Canal at Scottsdale Waterfront. The spectacle featured an enormous 80-foot-wide array of quartz lamps, called the 4 LETTER WORD MACHINE, designed by the artist as a visual translation and communications system using code and patterns. During several shows throughout both evenings, performers ascended to platforms over the canal and controlled the four 16-foot-square alphanumeric displays via custom switches. Brilliant bolts of white light scrolled through a spectacular display of mysterious transmissions, which were accompanied by ethereal sounds reminiscent of electromechanical devices and the hum of technology. The ten performances began with chaotic patterns in light, gradually revealing partial words and DNA code from the gene that develops the ability to communicate. Patterns and partial words through much of the performances challenged viewers to resist the compulsion to read and comprehend the messages. The two-night performance culminated in visual clarity, featuring the elemental words - TEXT, LIFE, LOVE, FATE, MORE, LESS, HOPE. “Such a complex and large-scale artwork is unprecedented in the state of Arizona,” said Margaret Bruning, associate director of Scottsdale Public Art. “This world debut of BEAUTIFUL LIGHT was an incredible success. Viewers were mesmerized by what they witnessed. As a visual dialogue about human interface with technology, and the potential for error, the ambiguous and often confounding messages engaged the general public in an exercise of questioning the influence of the tools that both enable and in some ways bind contemporary life.” The work of D.A. Therrien examines the interface of man and machine, often incorporating the human body into large-scale rituals of technology. “In addition to my interest in light and electricity, I have a fascination with language and the codes that represent it,” said artist D.A. Therrien. “This performance explores the purity of white light, the mystery of language, the precision of digital codes and the magic of 4 letters - A, C, G, T - representing the DNA code, and consequently, all known life.” BEAUTIFUL LIGHT was commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art in partnership with Starwood Capital Group and Golub & Company. The piece is available to travel nationally and internationally; inquiries are accepted.
About Scottsdale Public Art The mission of the Scottsdale Public Art Program is to make Scottsdale one of the most desirable communities in the country in which to live, work and visit by incorporating art and design projects throughout. In 1985, the City of Scottsdale established the Scottsdale Public Art Program with the goal to enhance the quality of life for its residents and visitors. Since then more than 70 permanent and temporary public artworks have been commissioned throughout the community. Scottsdale's program and projects have won local, regional and national awards. Public art has taken many forms ranging from the walls of the Pima Freeway to James Turrell's "skyspace" at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. The Scottsdale Public Art Program is managed by the Scottsdale Cultural Council, a private, non-profit 501 (c)(3) management organization that administers the arts and cultural affairs of the City of Scottsdale and also manages the Scottsdale Center for the Arts and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.
High res images available upon request. Media Contact Rasheda Smith Scottsdale Public Art 480.874.4645
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