Sydney, Australia – The same innovative connected LED lighting technologies used to illuminate urban environments, including some of the world’s most iconic buildings, architectural landmarks, natural features and public art installations, are being showcased by Philips, the global leader in lighting, at Vivid Sydney 2015.

As a Vivid Collaborator, Philips has sponsored its own installation, Tree of Light, as well as partnering with the designers of a further six installations, including ‘Lucky Country’ by Snell + Llight, ‘Confluence’ by Sheppard Robson Architects, Jason Lu and Joseph Rowe & Simon Palmer and ‘Swing Glow’ by NBRS + Partners and Fiona Venn.

Rob Fletcher, General Manager Philips Lighting Australia and New Zealand, commented: “Vivid Sydney is the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas, and a hub of innovation and creativity, so it is a natural match for Philips as the global leader in lighting.  The Tree of Light demonstrates how lighting today can beautify our cities, inspire creativity and connect us with each other and our environment.”

The Philips Color Kinetics connected lighting system behind Tree of Light represents an integral part of Philips Lighting’s City Beautification segment, illuminating buildings, monuments and sculptures around the world, including the Empire State Building in New York.

Designed by Kiwi duo Dean Griffin and Chris Huff, Tree of Light utilises more than 3,100 nodes, incorporating 18,600 individual LED light points, to deliver a unique interactive visual experience that transforms nature into artwork through movement and colour. Each LED light point is programmed to work in concert, digitally reproducing mesmerising images on an organic web of digital light.

Dean Griffin, Head of Business Development Projects at Philips, remarked: “Vivid Sydney is the perfect opportunity to show how Philips Color Kinetics transforms environments through dynamic and innovative uses of light.  Our LED lighting systems, controllers and custom lighting solutions reinvent light as a highly efficient, long lasting and inherently digital source of illumination.”

Sandra Chipchase, Chief Executive Officer, Destination NSW, commented: “We are delighted Philips is playing a significant role as a technology collaborator for seven light installations at Vivid Sydney. The festival showcases the interaction between art and technology and Philips is a great example of this, proudly presenting some their latest technological advancements at Vivid Sydney.”

The Philips Tree of Light (Vivid Sydney 2015 installation no.48) is situated on the Hickson Road Reserve, Dawes Point, The Rocks, between 22 May and 8 June.

About Philips Tree of Light

Vivid Sydney 2015 - Light installation no. 48

Hickson Road Reserve, The Rocks, NSW 2000

Artists: Dean Griffin & Chris Huff (New Zealand)

Collaborators: Tomas Sandoval (USA) & Philip Hardy (Australia)

Country: Australia

Lighting technology: Philips Color Kinetics

Light installation video: https://youtu.be/1Ze8UTbPCcI

About Philips Color Kinetics iColor Flex MX lighting technology:

iColor Flex MX is a multi-purpose, high-intensity strand of 50 full-colour LED nodes for generating extraordinary effects without the constraints of fixture size or shape. iColor Flex MX enables patterns and video on almost any interior or exterior surface, including ceilings, floors, three-dimensional objects, sculptures, and more. Its small node size allows installation in tighter spaces than the larger iColor Flex SLX and iColor Flex LMX strands

Features

• Strand consists of 50 individually addressable LED nodes; each node produces full-colour light output of up to 1.44 candela
• Flexible form factor
• Works with complete Philips line of controllers, as well as third-party DMX controllers
• Multiple lens options: clear dome and translucent dome lenses as standard; clear flat and translucent flat lenses also available
• Standard and custom lengths and node spacing

Applications

• Architectural accent and perimeter lighting
• Large-scale video displays