Union Square Muni Station
This immersive work by Erwin Redl consists of more than 500 translucent 10-by-10-inch light panels that each contain an array of LED lights spanning the color spectrum. They are suspended from the ceiling along the entire length of the 670-foot concourse level. The panels are programmed to change color and create patterns, with so many sequences possible that the same combination is unlikely to be seen twice.
Redl (born in 1963) is an Austrian-born artist currently living in the United States. Redl studied electronic music and composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna. Then he moved to New York City, where he studied Computer Art at the School of Visual Arts and graduated in 1995.
The artist had this to say about the installation: “It was clear from the get-go that this would be a very long process: Nobody ever thought that this would take two years. Luckily for me, lighting technology has developed exponentially in the last 12 years. There’s just a tiny controller there now that can control the whole installation, there’s no computer involved. The raw, gray concrete and the reflective ceiling give a really beautiful canvas to the piece. There’s a futuristic, almost retro ‘2001: A Space Odyssey look when you walk up the escalator and see my piece floating there like a spaceship. I intuitively choose the title because it’s in a diamond grid. It’s above your head in the sky, and it has this uplifting, positive vibe that I wanted. It’s not a purely visual experience; you have to perceive it by experiencing it and by inhabiting it.”