Client: Botanical gardens, museums and festivals.

Overview

A gigantic light flower, seeming to float above the surface, with a heart modelled on a brain cell, encircled by a garland of graceful stems. A circle of seven pods lies under the heart, in here is hidden the seed of movement. By activiting the sensors, the visitor sets off a wave of moving colours. . A dynamic interplay is created with both the viewer and the surroundings influencing the light flower. Diameter about 15 feet, installation height is variable, minimum height 5.25 feet. LED light in polycarbonate tubes, stainless steel frame, polyester heart and electronics.

Goals

The principle behind Flower from the Universe is physical space. Space as palette, as biotope: a living organism. The work emphasises the poetry of the site. Colour and movement intertwine in the artwork. The context changes continually, viewer and light sculpture intermingle and connect and are together incorporated into a unity of time; there is no beginning or end. The intelligence of the natural order prevails.

Process

Artist Titia Ex works with light, movement and spatial perception. She always focuses on the relationship that a work enters into with its surroundings. The history of a site or the current use of the space plays a significant part in the interpretation of her works. In the case of Flower from the Universe this relationship is explicitly interactive: the colour changes and movement create a connection and an interchange with the viewer. The work has been on various locations including London, Jerusalem, NIagara Falls Canada, Beijing China, Bahrain, South Korea and in 2021 in Lithuania.

Additional Information

The flower records the colours surrounding it and transfers these to the ‘petals’ into which the garland is divided. On the edges of the petals the reflected colours gradually run into one another. The brain cell in the heart has illuminated offshoots that follow or are in contrast with the colours in the garland. A dynamic interplay is created with both the viewer and the surroundings influencing the light flower. If no movement or colour change is detected then the light flower switches to a pre-programmed pattern.