The art of selling
Singapore 15th October 2010
We made it! Despite the setbacks and delays we managed to have our artwork working in time for the opening. I must say that the organisers put in a great job to promote the event. One does not always realize what comes into play (and how much money is spent!) to organize such events. In Singapore the government really got inspired by the Smart Light Sydney concept last year and thought it would be a great way to promote the new lifestyle hub that Marina Bay is becoming with the arrival of Marina Bay Sands and the heritage conversion of the Fullerton area.
However having the concept is one thing but organising and promoting it to the general public is something else. How do you sell art? It takes a lot of well planned media advertising campaigns to warm the public up for such events, certainly in countries that is yet building its cultural image. But I have to say that for I-Light Singapore at the Marina Bay it has worked out really well judging by the numbers that turned up tonight for the opening event. So much so that we had to adapt the people count on our detection software that is providing the input for our lighting effects because of the much higher than expected flow of people. But despite the few hitches and no thanks to our late night (early morning efforts) it turned out very well with some great and enthusiastic responses from the public. Being the only artwork in the water it really provides an unique contribution to the festival.
With a great start and positive feedback from the public I expect word of mouth to do the selling and the light festival to be a great success. For me who comes from an architectural background it is a new adventure. When you call it art really anything goes (contrary to architectural lighting), It is the way you sell it that makes it work!
The whirlpool
I Light Singapore 15th October – 7th November 2010
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