After years in the making, the mysterious project that’s been going on in Leeds’ Neville Street is finally complete and will be unveiled to the public today, Friday 23rd October.
It’s a sound and light installation designed with multiple purposes in mind. It will, literally, brighten up a previously dingy city gateway, at the same time making the tunnel safer for drivers and pedestrians alike and providing Leeds with a permanent art installation from an internationally renowned artist, Hans Peter Kuhn.
Coming only a few weeks after sound art festival EXPO’s successful outing in Leeds, it seems a perfect time to unveil a sonic installation in the city. Kuhn is perhaps not a household name, but he is undoubtedly one of the forerunners in his field, and in this respect ‘Light’ is a true coup for Leeds.
It’s not just Kuhn’s work though – there’s been a lot of local talent harnessed for the project, from Leeds-based graphic designer Andy Edwards’ visual installation, to Huddersfield-based Heywood Metal Finishers provided specially designed panelling, Holbeck Company LiteLED masterminding the technology behind the lighting installation and Bradford’s TMC installing the acoustics.
As a high profile and expensive piece of public art (coming in at a cool £4.6m), it’s bound to stir up controversy. Let’s hope that it also becomes an interesting talking point and inspires more than a few moments of quiet inspiration along the way...
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