Following its debut event in Mexico last year, Light Collective brought its “festival of disruption” to London this October, hoping to inspire its audience, and start new conversations on the future of the lighting profession.

What does it mean to be truly disruptive in the lighting industry? This is a question that Light Collective asked of the design community at Disruptia, its very own “festival of disruption”.

Held at One Friendly Place in Deptford (itself an act of disruption!), the one-day event looked to challenge the norms of lighting events and, as Martin Lupton said in his opening remarks, was a way to “gather the smartest minds in the world of tech and innovation with the smartest people in lighting, put them in a room, and get conversations going”.

The event was split between a series of “Inspiration” presentations on lighting-adjacent subjects, such as the dawn of new tech, VFX, and visual pollution, and “Conversations”, where attendees could meet with designers, engage with installations, or learn more about new, emerging technology in lighting.

Opening the event was an Inspirations session from Ghislaine Boddington, artist, curator, and host of the Fast Forward podcast series. Her talk, a mind-bending discussion titled Illuminating the Living Body: From Shadows to Sentience, explored the role of light in influencing our sensory and cognitive processes, how today’s lighting technology is transforming public spaces, immersive environments, and even our digital identity, with a glimpse into the future of human experience. Harnessing her background in dance, she discussed the “immersion world” – spaces like cathedrals and nightclubs that are designed to enhance our senses, before delving into the theory of ‘Telepresence”, and the eventual merging of physical and virtual worlds. A fascinating exploration into what may be possible in the future – and an intense way to kick off proceedings.

The second “Inspiration” talk came from Tom McLoughlin of Territory Studios, who discussed the interplay between design, fiction, and reality, examining how imagined worlds can challenge our perceptions and inspire solutions. Using examples from his work in digital art, concept designs, and science fiction films, McLoughlin demonstrated how otherworldly, forward-thinking and imaginative design for works of fiction can actually inspire real-world development, bridging the gap between fiction and reality.

Up next, MTArt Agency founder Marine Tanguy gave an incendiary talk on the power of visual literacy, and the harm that “visual pollution” and over-exposure to large-scale screen advertising can bring. In her session, she discussed the links between the overexposure to high levels of commercial imagery and lower wellbeing, contrasting with an improved wellbeing when exposed to the arts. Citing her book, The Visual Detox, Tanguy called for the need to build an inclusive visual world, and how, in times of visual cognitive overload, we can train our eyes to challenge what we see daily. As someone who regularly travels through London Euston train station and has to see the monstrous advertising screen that spans across its entire interior, there was definitely a lot to personally take away from this talk.

The final Inspirations talk came from German light art extraordinaire Christopher Bauder, who wowed the audience with some recent examples of his amazing, immersive creations. Throughout his career, Bauder has become well-known for fusing light with music in ephemeral, encompassing performances that transport viewers into a parallel world of space, light, and sound. In a free-flowing presentation, Bauder shared some behind the scenes insights from two of his latest works – Vektor, in Berlin, and Dialogue, created for Noor Riyadh 2023.

Interspersed within the Inspiration talks were a series of “Conversation” sessions. Occupying 13 different spaces across three floors, the format of these varied from interactive installations to demonstrations of new tech in lighting, to guided meditations, where lighting plays a key role.

Lighting design studio Artin Light partnered with LEDFlex, creating a scenario in which visitors could create their own lighting installation in the main talks space of the venue, experimenting with form and colour to create unique scenarios. Elsewhere, WSP and Ayrton collaborated on Light Beam, an immersive artwork that merged cinema, sculpture, drawing, and sound. Guests could play with mirrors and three-dimensional beams of light to sculpt their own beautiful creations.

Merging light art and AI, Daniel Green of Into Lighting and Digital Gyoza teamed up with formalighting for Light P{AI}nting, exploring the crossover from virtual to physical with a specially developed interaction between formalighting’s latest range of moving lights, and realtime image generation using the Krea.AI system.

Demonstrating how new technology could shape the future of lighting design, tools such as VR, AR, content engines, intelligent sensors, and even video games were examined, in conversations with Juan Ferrari and Karam Bhamra of Hoare Lea; Claude Dutson of the Royal College of Art; Sarah Cox of Neutral Human; and James Simpson of Copper Candle.

There were further demonstrations from creative minds like Frankie Boyle, Tapio Rosenius, and Moritz Waldemeyer, who each shared their own takes on the future of art, light and design. Pixmob also demonstrated how its wireless LED technology can create immersive lighting experiences synced with music. Elsewhere, in a much-needed change of pace after seeing so much disruptive innovation, Kai Diederichsen and Magali Mendez slowed things down with a meditation looking to unlock emotional awareness through coloured coded light; and Maria Vera and Viviana Caro explored the notion of “Neuromance” with a beautiful installation that intertwined light and sound that sought to examine how humans experience light as both an aesthetic and sensory phenomenon.

As the event drew to a close, guests were treated to complementary tacos and tequila – a truly disruptive way to end an event – and sent into the night full of inspiration and disruptive thoughts for the future of the industry.

Disruptia was created by Light Collective, with support from Ayrton, formalighting, LEDFlex, and Light House.

www.lightcollective.net