ONELUX lights up Fisher's Big Clay #4 in Seagram Building Plaza

New York, NY ONELUX studio is pleased to announce that it highlighted Big Clay #4, an art installation by Swiss artist Urs Fisher and exhibited in the Seagram Building Plaza in New York City. Unique LED Spotlights Create Natural Lighting Effect Two pairs of tightly focused, well shielded LED spotlights at the north and south corners of the building illuminated the sculpture from behind in a “high backlight” configuration. Each pair of lights included one 2700k spotlight and one 4,000k spotlight and each fixture was connected to a separate dimmer switch, to allow for both dimming and tuning of the white light. The location of the spotlights created a natural lighting scheme and was a respectful and sensitive treatment to both the building and the artwork. Innovative Technology to Overcome Challenges ONELUX studio faced numerous challenges in lighting the sculpture including a limited budget and schedule and having to avoid any permanent alterations to the fabric of the building. The most challenging aspect was the complex geometry of the sculpture itself. ONELUX did not have access to the actual sculpture nor a physical model prior to execution. Instead they were provided with a photograph of the sculpture from the workshop in China where it was fabricated, along with a 3D point cloud describing the geometry. ONELUX studio turned the point cloud into a high-resolution model through a series of complex digital gymnastics so that the correct lighting effects could be modelled in context. “We composed a well-balanced intensity of top light, producing a realist effect suggestive of moonlight,” said Jack Bailey, partner at ONELUX studio. The Big Clay #4 was visible for more than half a mile in either direction from the Park Ave. location. The Seagram building is respected as an iconic landmark by New Yorkers, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and protected by New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Big Clay #4 has been described as a “raw enigma, dwarfed by the clear and rational lines of Mies Van der Rohe’s modernist masterpiece.”