Leo Villareal and Cameron McNall: Artist Essay

Illuminating Life

Leo Villareal and Cameron McNall both explore light art in their respective works. Their works are dynamic and expressive. Light art includes a lot of movement and energy. Villareal and McNall both deliver enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing pieces. Although they are both light artists, their works have differences, as well as some similarities. Light art is a captivating form of art that is beautiful, fun and always changing.

Leo Villareal is an LED light artist. According to his biography, he attended Yale University where he studied installation sculpture (Leo Villareal Bio).  “In 1994, Villareal first attended the counterculture festival Burning Man, which inspired him to begin creating immersive experiences on a larger scale (San Jose Museum of Art).” The Burning Man festival is all about connections and making connections with art. People are able to make universal connections to Villareal’s work because it can be interpreted in many ways even though it is just a light sculpture. Light surrounds all of us and Villareal turns light into art. His light sculptures are able to make an emotional connection with the audience. JoAnne Northrop, a curator at the San Jose Museum of Art says of Villareal’s work, "It doesn't just talk to your eyes. Your entire body reacts to it. Sometimes [you get] the feeling that these works are trying to communicate with you directly"(Terdiman). Villareal’s pieces are not just colorful, random light patterns but they have meaning. People have a sense of connection and communication because Villareal’s work reflects life and life’s ever changing patterns. Now Villareal’s art is shown in galleries and exhibits around the country and the world. He even has a large, permanent piece at the National Gallery in Washington D.C.

“Silence— sphere of darkness sudden explosion of light jumble of atoms collide and coalesce into stars spinning spiral galaxies of red, yellow, and blue fireflies scatter everywhere” (Chou) Big Bang, a light sculpture created in 2008, is a sparkling, colorful piece. It is a good representation of Villareal’s work because it encompasses the liveliness and imagination that is found in his other works. It looks like a galaxy in space. It is a circular piece and the movement of light moves in a circular pattern. The colors and the movement are random. It is very eye catching and people spend a long time looking at it. Daniel Terdiman says of Villareal’s work, “Villareal said that LEDs combined with his software and hardware systems, give him the possibility of millions of colors with which to work. And that, among other reasons, is why he has chosen LEDs as his primary media” (Terdiman).The piece easily captures people's attention due to the intensity of the colors and the alluring movement. The colors are powerful and the piece is chaotic. In this chaotic life people can relate to the chaos and beauty of Big Bang.

Big Bang 2008- James Ewing Photography

Cameron McNall is the principal founder of Electroland. Electroland makes concepts and projects involving light art are and interactive art. In an article from LA Design Technology it describes Electroland as, “a team that creates large-scale public art experiences” (la design tech). McNall is an artist as well as an architect. His work involves architecture due to the large scale of the installations. McNall creates concepts and installations, but he is also creating a platform that the audience can interact and alter. In a way it is like crowdsourcing. In The Christian Science Monitor it says that crowdsourcing “requires contributions from strangers” (Strickland). McNall’s work involves the work of strangers. Such as the piece entitled Enteractive in which participants step on light up squares that are then shown on the outside of a building. On the Electroland website it says of Enteractive, “The building face displays the human interactions occurring below” (Electroland).  McNall’s work is immersive and fun. McNall’s work with Electroland adds an element of art and qurikiness to city landscapes.

           With Electroland McNall helped create Metallotus. Metallotus is a giant metal lotus that hangs in downtown Los Angeles. The flower is lit up by lights and the lights change colors. McNall says of the piece, “This is our dream. To create public art that breathes life into a social space and into a city” (Lubell). His work brightens communities by blending art, architecture and interaction and Metallotus is a great example of McNall’s work. His work is large scale and it would be fascinating to view in person because of the size. Metallotus seems like it would be brilliant to view in person because the design of the flower looks so delicate, but it is made of metal wire and pipes. An article by AN Blog states, “It’s a 30-foot-long, 1,400 pound stainless steel lotus flower” (Lubell). That would truly be an experience to view a massive, metal flower in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. Metallotus represents art and an interactive experience that Electroland and Mcnall strive to create.

Metallotus (AN Blog)

 

Metallotus "courtesy of Electroland" (la design tech)

            There are some differences between Villareal and McNall’s work. They are both genius light artists. However, they approach the art form in different ways. Villareal expresses his feelings and let’s the audience view his own expressions in the form of light sculptures. The light sculptures are of course dazzling and fascinating to watch. McNall gives the audience a platform to express themselves and interact with the art. His work is dazzling as well, but it is on a much larger scale. McNall’s work involves entire buildings and he uses architecture as his canvas. His work takes up entire rooms, sides of buildings and even outdoor plazas.

Leo Villareal and Cameron McNall both cleverly manipulate light into art and into ways that the average person would never think of exploring. In an interview with Villareal, he said that Dan Flavin has inspired his work. Dan Flavin a light artist says, “One might not think of light as a matter of fact, but I do. And it is, as I said, as plain and open and direct an art as you will ever find” (Dan Flavin Quotes). They are blending technology, light and art. Villareal and Mcnall confront light art in different ways, but they are both able to capture light in unique and inventive forms. It will be exciting to see their work illuminate, transform and captivate the world for years to come. 

Works Cited

"Leo Villareal Bio." Leo Villareal. Web. 13 Dec 2011. <http://www.villareal.net/bio.html>

"Leo Villareal." San Jose Museum of Art. Web. 13 Dec 2011. <http://www.sjmusart.org/content/leo-villareal>

Terdiman, Daniel. "When LEDs and math equal high art."CNET. Web. 13 Dec 2011. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20017310-52.html?tag=mncol;1n>

Chou, Peter. "Leo Villareal: Big Bang." Wisdom Portal. Web. 12 Dec 2011. <http://www.wisdomportal.com/Poems2011/LeoVillarealBigBang.html>

 "DIGITAL PRACTICE SERIES 2011." la design tech. Web. 14 Dec 2011. <http://www.ladesigntech.org/newsletter_20110317.html>

Strickland, Carol. "Crowdsourcing: The art of a crowd."The Christian Science Monitor. Web. 12 Dec 2011. <http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2011/0114/Crowdsourcing-The-art-of-a-crowd>

"Who: Cameron McNall." Electroland. Web. 14 Dec 2011. <http://electroland.net/>

Lubell, Sam. "METAL FLOWER BLOSSOMS IN DOWNTOWN LA." AN Blog. Web. 13 Dec 2011. <http://blog.archpaper.com/wordpress/archives/tag/cameron-mcnall>

 "Dan Flavin Quotes." Brainy Quote. Web. 13 Dec 2011. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/d/dan_flavin.html>