For a tourist, Marina Bay brings to mind the infinity pool at the top of MBS and skylines for days. For locals, their seasonal events and artsy exhibitions are likely one of the main reasons why we somehow always find ourselves back at the waterfront during the weekends.
Following the highly-raved KAWs: HOLIDAY exhibition and the pretty-purple Art of Dreams installation, the events hotspot now welcomes the return of i Light Singapore 2022 from 3rd-26th June 2022. Free up some of your phone storage space as you’re bound to be snapping plenty of photos of its holographic neon exhibitions and quirky artworks. Below are some of our favourite installations to check out:
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This stunning installation covers the Queen Elizabeth Walk waterfront steps in a huge, eye-catching display. Colour-changing lights spread over the steps represent pollutants entering the river, while also mimicking cracks in an iceberg – both bringing attention to climate change and its effects.
Artist: Liang TaiLin, Isabela Meo Loo Yanshan (NUS Architecture, i Light Student Closed Call 2022)
Location: Queen Elizabeth Walk waterfront steps
A unique artwork that highlights the effects of climate change on animals, Fallen displays an iridescent jellyfish with an interesting backstory. The magical sea creature that roams outer space and feeds on stars in this narrative, accidentally eats human trash and ends up crashing onto Earth.
Artist: Nerdist x ARTINA (South Korea)
Location: Lawn next to One Marina Boulevard
This romantic display will make you feel like you’re literally surrounded by magical fireflies. The artist, TOER, said he and his team enjoy working with light as you can play with what to show audiences – and in this case, we see 500 ‘fireflies’ that move and float in all different directions.
Artist: TOER (The Netherlands)
Location: The Promontory at Marina Bay
For those who miss the nostalgia of listening to music on boomboxes and CD players, this exhibition is for you. Featuring 1,900 discs threaded together in an Instagrammable web display, Collective Memory represents how obsolete items can still be used beautifully today.
Artist: LiteWerkz (Singapore, i Light Student Award 2020)
Location: Breeze Shelter
Get ready to relate hard to this one – the Alone Together exhibition shows life during the COVID-19 quarantine, and how we’ve spent it in different ways. Whether you’ve spent it with solo karaoke sessions at home or busting out new dance moves, this 48-frame artwork depicts how we got through the lonely days on our own, but simultaneously together.
This interactive exhibit is super cool – by visiting this site, you’ll get to choose from different options like ‘dancing’ and ‘singing’ and watch a character perform the activity you’ve selected on screen, in real-time.
Artist: Ping Lim (Singapore), Ian Grossberg (USA)
Location: Marina Bay Link Mall entrance
Create your own masterpiece with this interactive installation. With themes of sustainability, this
display invites visitors to use flashlights from their phones to “draw” on a blank canvas. The light from your device will leave an illuminated trail on the display screen, leaving visitors to reflect on whether our short-lived actions are worth the energy we utilise.
A portion of the display also detects hand motions, making for a super unique light show.
Throughout the exhibition, audiences can also gather on selected dates and timings to be treated to light animation shows performed by different artists.
Artist: Trial & Error (Singapore)
Location: In front of Red Dot Design Museum
The shadows cast beneath the structure reflect the daunting POV of sea creatures being choked by discarded plastics.
While this shimmering display looks stunning from afar, it features downcast shadows that represent the effects of waste on the marine ecosystem. The installation is made out of discarded plastic, ironed out to form the hanging wave-like structures.
Eyes of the Sea is one installation that reveals the contrast between the shiny, glamorous exterior that humans see, and the not-so-pretty reality of our actions and how they impact underwater life beneath the surface.
Artist: Team Panorama (Singapore, i Light Student Award 2020)
Location: Mist Walk
This installation is a “mini world”, according to artist Eiji Sumi. Built like some kind of carnival ride, the installation invites you to climb onboard and attempt to balance it out – be sure to keep a close eye on the way the movement affects the light.
It actually has a very smart meaning – Sumi says the outer ring of seats of the display represents people with the most power, while the inner seats represent ordinary folk with lesser say. Just as team effort is required to balance the installation, the artist beseeches society to come together as one.
Artist: Eiji Sumi (Japan)
Location: Event Square
Following the strong theme of climate change and sustainability, the Plastic Whale showcases a magnificent whale decked out in colour-changing lights.
The installation is super Instagrammable and invites visitors to hop in and snap photos in the whale’s mouth. However, its meaning is far more serious – the eye-catching whale figure is depicted to be struggling to breathe and filled with plastic scraps, showing how waste impacts ocean life.
Artist: Feng Qiao, Craig Neo, Liao Qingshuang, Li Jianwen (Singapore and China)
Location: Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza
This large-scale artwork paints the Art Science Museum’s iconic “hand” facade in data-turned-art. Possible by combining AI and machine learning algorithms, the attraction turns environmental data into a brilliant display. For the best view of the exhibit, head up to the Helix Bridge where you’ll get a wider look at the entire projection.
Artist: OUCHHH (Turkey)
Location: ArtScience Museum Facade
This exhibition provides an immersive and totally Instagram-worthy experience with flashing lights and multiple photo spots. The first zone lets you walk through light beams with undulating colours, and into 5 different zones. The different zones showcase different animations including holographic projections and motion-capture graphics.
*This is a paid programme
Price: $8/pax
Location: Marina Bay Lower Boardwalk
Book tickets to Lightwave: Isle of Light, Empowered by OPPO here
Once you’re done poring over and snapping your way through all the installations, grab yourself some delicious drinks and treats at GastroBeats. Take your pick of local hawker foods and international treats – look out for food whipped up by the likes of famous chefs from MasterChef, including Sarah Todd, George Calombaris, Genevieve Lee and Derek Cheong.
Plus, you’ll get to soak in night market vibes as you enjoy listening to live music from artists like Daniel Sid, Keyana, Subsonic Eye and more. Don’t forget to snap shots at multiple IG photo-ops, including colourful neon installations and graffiti walls.
Price: $9/pax for entry
Opening hours: 10.30am-10.30pm
Location: Bayfront Event Space
Book tickets to GastroBeats here
Visiting bars and clubs won’t be the only things on our after-hours bucket list come June. Bookmark your calendars for i Light Singapore 2022’s series of vibrant, glimmering exhibitions for some wholesome fun till late. Since the event will be running every day of the week, you can swing by after a long day of work, or save it for a weekend activity with boo.
Stay tuned to the festival’s website in the coming weeks for more information on the festival map and other programmes in the lineup.
Date: 3rd-26th June 2022
Time: Sun-Thu 7.30pm-11pm | Fri-Sat 7.30pm-12am
Venue: Marina Bay
For more things to see and do in Singapore, check out the following:
Photography by Alvin Wong.
This post was done in collaboration with i Light Singapore. However, all opinions are our own.
Originally published on 12th May 2022. Last updated on 2nd June 2022.
This article was co-written by Kezia Tan and Gwyn Lim.
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