A new site-specific light installation designed to invoke the genius loci of a place. Lux Perpetua is designed to create a faint, yet persistent presence in a largely forgotten landscape feature; a suggestion of the spirit thereabouts and the lives within.
The work consists of a 2m steel pole surmounted by an adapted spotting scope, the optics of which have been transformed, such that the scope emits rather than transmits light. Furthermore, its inner sanctum if you will, has been transplanted with a beautiful ingot of dalle de verre glass giving what was once mute, a kind of unearthly voice in the form of a silent emerald glow.
Sustained by the sun, it will not need feeding and consequently could last in-perpetuity.. It has been designed to be placed in the landscape without maintenance, both to test this hypothesis and for it to bear witness to its natural environment.
In October 2021 it was sited at Hale Decoy in Cheshire. The decoy is a rare surviving example of a 17th century duck decoy, an SSSI, and of singular importance regionally as a habitat for birds and other wildlife. It is also a remote and lonely place, physically dispossessed and sadly, facing an uncertain future.
By day there is a satisfying inverted relationship between the artwork as object and with the viewer, in that a telescope is required to discern the artwork which was once your observer. By night all sense of this connection is lost and one can merely wait… for the unearthly glow to reveal itself, and for it to ask questions of just who or what might be out there observing you.
Japanese Yūrei traditions speak of manifestations in watery places and this light is suggestive of these spirits, but more importantly the present life-affirmation of its non-human occupants – in their abundance. Lux Perpetua is intended to bridge these varied domains.
Important information
Hale Decoy is on private land. This artwork was installed safely and under the direct supervision of the Friends who maintain the site. The site is presently closed to the public and is unsafe, please do not try to approach the site without invitation or express permission.
The artwork can be viewed from dusk on foot via the footbridge on Town Lane. Please do not park on the road but instead leave your car in one of the car parks at Hale village and walk (10 mins).
This is a temporary artwork. Its design and materials will not harm the delicate habitat of the Decoy nor will the directional nature of the light in any way disturb the roosting or nesting behaviour of the birds.
Acknowledgements
With thanks to RBC and the Friends for their assistance and support. Without their efforts over many years the Decoy would not be a viable home for birds, or artwork.
Please consider donating or getting involved in their conservation efforts.