Lightscape: in Review

What is it about lights we love so much?

Ultrasonic oil diffusers light up, but it does not add to the ability to diffuse oil. It is merely for ambiance. In a day and age where very few houses in developed areas are without electricity, we spend an awful lot of money on unnecessary candles and fancy accessories. There are entire streets festooned in lights for months every year for Christmas. I’m not sure about other countries, but we Aussies love our Chrissy light completions. And what party is complete without party lights? A friend of mine is starting a business designing and supplying custom neon lights to the public rather than just other businesses (there was a hole in the market, she and her husband plan to rectify it).

I'm not really sure where our fascination starts but I know I’m not immune to it! I absolutely LOVE light displays. My all time favourite is fireworks, but they only happen around my home a couple times a year (admittedly, that’s a good thing given the exorbitant cost and the pollution fireworks cause).

I may not have an answer for why, but I do know how we feel: a child-like delight, a sense of magic, awe, amazement, captivated, bewitched and enchanted. The list goes on.

So when the opportunity arose to check out the world renowned Lightscape display free of charge (thanks to a friend winning tickets), I dropped everything to go. Truth be told, I’d been planning on buying tickets anyway. I was not about to miss this.

And I am glad I didn’t.

Lightscape has visited multiple locations in Australia after touring multiple cities in the UK and US and is now set up in Brisbane.

Set in the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens, the display lights up the dark in a 2km immersive experience.

I have seen a few immersive light displays over the years and I will be honest. Lightscape is not bad. It is not the absolute best I’ve seen, but it was still impressive. I would probably rank it at about number 3.

What bumped the display down the list for me were a couple of points.

The first being use of space. The Brisbane City Botanic Gardens (BCBG) Lightscape has 2 km to work with and the displays were well conceived: artistic, yet easy to enjoy and visually pleasing. However, that did not cover the empty spaces beyond. The displays lacked backgrounds. The City scape beyond the Gardens were not enough to give some of the major displays depth, especially when the majority of it is hidden behind trees and fencing.

My second on the list was a free admission installation in the Ipswich CBD much smaller than the Brisbane Lightscape. However, smaller and free did not mean poor quality. Available space including the buildings and walk ways around the displays. Granted, some of the pathways in the Lightscape were utilised, but not to the same degree. The light arch was smaller in Ipswich and yet more impressive. Possibly in large part to the management of crowds passing through. And given the light arch was used in the advertising for the event (more on that later), I was expecting more.

The second point that bumped BCBG display down the list was photo opportunities. Something the Ipswich 2021 Christmas lights display in the Japanese gardens incorporated into their plans. There were many smaller points of interest along the pathways and opportunities to take snaps. But there were also plotted spots that had been identified as fantastic photo ops. These spots were sign posted and staffed to help people line up for happy snaps, to keep the line moving and to help people take photos if they were interested in some assistance.

These things may seem small, a bit nitpicky, but in a world that revolves around such things as our social media, wether we like it or not the fact that a person can list Influencer as their job indicates just how much of a factor things like photos and showing them off are in our world today.

Things like empty backgrounds don’t just take away some of the immersive quality of an installation, they also make for less impressive photos. One or the other of these points will detract for the majority of the target audience.

Which also brings me back to the light arch. The rule in advertising is we put our best foot forward, a bit like posting on social media. And in the advertising for Lightscape certainly does that. The problem with that is, their best foot is an image taken from another location that the display has been to. It is not stated in the advertising to not be the BCBG. It is somewhat like false advertising, what I expected to see, was not what was in the display. It is the main image for the link to the information website advertising the event.

Lightscape Brisbane is however 3rd on my list for good reason.

I don’t want to spoil it, in case readers get a chance to go see a Lightscape Immersive display, but there were two displays in particular that stood out for me.

The laser lights and the light birds.

The lasers, set in tall trees either side of the footpath created a visually stunning display that also utilised music and smoke machines. The photos do not do it justice. If the entire display had been on par with the laser garden, BCBG Lightscape would have been hands down my favourite lights display.

My second favourite part was the light birds. Displayed on the trunks and branches of the trees lining a boardwalk this display had a beautiful and calm feel to it, more like a surreal fairy garden than any of the other displays. There was something about it that left an impression, I would love to have them in my trees!

Ultimately, even if I had paid to go, I think I would have enjoyed the experience. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of maybe checking out Lightscape to go for it. It is no a profound experience, but it was an hour and a half well spent.

Tips for attending Lightscape -

• Don’t forget to look up. The display has some spotlights sweeping the sky and illuminate the clouds.

• There are a few little gems created by the lesser lights between displays. Take the time wander between the destinations and look around. We saw the Blue Supermoon rising between the buildings behind the gardens and tree branches. It won't happen again, but there is often something to see if we take the time to look around.

• We were allowed 90 minutes to work our way through the 2km. There is not much seating to stop along the way, but there are lots of places to stop and appreciate the view. You may need to spend a moment or two waiting for a spot to open up if you want to stand at the barrier to take pictures.

• There were QR codes at each of the major displays. While I did not have time to check the information on each of the displays, they give information about the installations.

Below is a link to the Brisbane Lightscape information page.

Author's Note:

One area I am aware I lack skill is in non-fiction. Especially in writing articles that do not require my emotional response. I genuinely enjoyed the Lightscape display and I thought this was a fantastic opportunity to practice my non-fiction skills as well as my critique skills.

Thank you Lee Hunter for the use of your photos.

I am happy for feedback on my article but I do ask that in giving feedback, we exercise sensitivity. I'd like to improve, not to be deterred from trying again.

I thank you in advance!