The 10th annual Luminato festival is being held inside the old Hearn Generating Station in the Portlands. There are many theatrical, musical and visual events and the location itself is worthy of many, many photos. Rather than try to cover everything in one blog post, I’ve chosen to focus on mirrors and reflections to begin with. First, there is the giant ‘disco ball’ that keeps light circulating around the massive interior of the Hearn and second, an installation by Jordan Soderberg Mills features three interesting and entertaining mirrors.
‘One Thousand Speculations’ is the name of the giant ball that is suspended from the ceiling. At 7.9m in diameter, it is the world’s largest mirror ball. It is the creation of Canadian artist Michel de Broin and was commissioned for the 2013 Luminato festival where it hung from a crane over David Pecaut Square. One thousand mirrors reflect the light from a spotlight on the floor and as the ball slowly turns, the lights move around the ceiling, walls, and floor of the Hearn.
below: As seen from the ground floor level.
below: Close up. The top level is quite close to the ball.
below: Someone, somewhere, has a picture of his friend ‘holding up’ the giant ball!
below: And the reverse angle, from the top looking down.
Lots of irregular shapes of light moving around the space.
The Luminato website describes the mirrors involved in the installation by Jordan Soderberg-Mills as “anaglyphic mirrors that play with physics, perception and colour”. Now you’re probably wondering what anaglyphic means. It’s a word that comes from the science of 3D pictures. There is no concise definition! It is a picture that consists of two slightly different perspectives of the same subject in contrasting colours that are superimposed on each other, producing a three-dimensional effect when viewed through two correspondingly coloured filters. Phew. In practice, it makes for a mirror that is fun to play with…. and people did play!
below: As seen from the upper level, three vertical mirrors and four circular mirrors.
as I walk Toronto 