“The City Luminous” Spectral Light Art Installation: Public Opening | SoMa

Submitted by the Event Organizer

The City Luminous: Spectral Canopy pays tribute to the innovative lighting design of the Pan-Pacific Int’l Expo of 1915.

This variation is a pastiche of archival material from the fair intercut with expressionistic images that expand upon these stunning lighting effects. They provide an imaginative view into the past inspired by Walter D’Arcy Ryan, the exposition’s illumination engineer, and the avant-garde dancer Loie Fuller, who raised funds to preserve the Palace of Fine Arts when the fair ended.

Public Opening: May 21st from 5-8 pm at California Historical Society (678 Mission St).

On display: Friday, May 1 –Sunday, June 28, 2015. It’s viewable from the street every night from dusk until midnight.

The City Luminous honors the stunning artistic possibilities of the relatively new technologies of electricity and projected light that were highlighted at the fair: choreographed light shows, a reflective Tower of Jewels, a 48-searchlight machine called the “Great Scintillator.” Together, these extensively used designs created a panoply of lighting illusions. The fair’s lighting effects were highly influential on world’s fairs that came later and paved the way for future light art in the Bay Area from the 1950s to the present day.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.