01 Apr 2016
Internationally recognised artist Bruce Munro's immersive installation Field of Light Uluru opens today, 1 April 2016, at Ayers Rock Resort in the spiritual heart of Australia.
In keeping with the desert's vast scale this is Munro's largest work to date, more than 50,000 slender stems crowned with radiant frosted-glass spheres over an area the size of four football fields. It is also the artist's first work to be illuminated through solar power. The spheres, connected via illuminated optical fibre, will bloom as darkness falls. Pathways created by the artwork will draw viewers into the installation, which will come to life under a sky brilliant with stars.
British artist Bruce Munro is best known for producing monumental light-based installations, which often employ a massing of components by the thousands. Frequently, Munro's subject matter is his own experience of fleeting moments of rapport with the world and existence in its largest sense, of being part of life's essential pattern. His reoccurring motif is the use of light on an environmental scale in order to create an emotional response for the viewer.
Munro conceived the idea for the Field of Light while visiting Uluru in 1992, but it wasn't until 2004 that the artist was first able to realise it for London's Victoria & Albert Museum, followed by a larger iteration in a field behind his home. Field of Light has since captivated visitors in differing site-specific iterations at locations across the United Kingdom, the United States and Mexico.
“Field of Light was one idea that landed in my sketchbook and kept on nagging at me to be done,” said Munro. “I saw in my mind a landscape of illuminated stems that, like the dormant seed in a dry desert, quietly wait until darkness falls, under a blazing blanket of southern stars, to bloom with gentle rhythms of light,” he said. “Field of Light is a personal symbol for the good things in life.”
“I now have the honour and privilege of returning to create an iteration of this artwork for the place that inspired it. A work conceived in the red desert returns to its birthplace springing from the dry ground,” said Munro.
“Field of Light Uluru presents an absolutely unique opportunity for guests to enjoy not only the spiritual nature of the destination, but experience it in a unique and mesmerising way,” said Voyages Executive General Manager Sales, Marketing and Distribution, Ray Stone.
Guests to Ayers Rock Resort can experience the installation in a number of ways, with options including a two hour visit, a Night at Field of Light dining experience and the option to enjoy at Sunrise as the lights fade into the morning light.
The exhibition, aptly named Tili Wiru Tjuta Nyakutjaku or 'looking at lots of beautiful lights' in local Pitjantjatjara, will be in place for a full year throughout the desert's distinct seasons, and will close on 31 March 2017.
“Logistics for a project such as this are immense, and we are fortunate to have the expertise of Qantas, the official airline partner of the Field of Light, who transported the unique stems of light all the way from the Bruce Munro Studio directly to Ayers Rock Airport”, said Ray.
The Qantas Group transported the stems, weighing in total approximately 15 tonnes, more than 19,000 kilometers (11,800 miles) over 32 international and domestic flights to Australia, the farthest a piece of Munro's artwork has travelled to an exhibition.
Qantas Freight Executive Manager, Alison Webster said Qantas has a long history of supporting the Arts and is proud to be part of this project. “We are thrilled, as Australia's national carrier, to be involved in this unique project which quite literally shines a spotlight on one of the most breathtaking and special places in the world, Uluru.”
Presenting Partner, Investec saw the exhibition as one with synergy to their core values. “We were drawn to Bruce Munro's Field of Light Uluru as we feel that it is an “Out of the Ordinary” installation in a truly magical place,” said Greg Joubert, Investec Head of Marketing and Communications.
MORE INFORMATION
www.ayersrockresort.com.au/fieldoflight
IMAGES
Contact merryn.andrews@voyages.com.au
MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Karena Noble, Director of PR
Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia
karena.noble@voyages.com.au | 0418 912 162
ABOUT BRUCE MUNRO
Bruce Munro is noted for his immersive site-specific installations that employ light to evoke emotional response. Born in London in 1959, he completed a B.A. in Fine Arts at Bristol in 1982. Shortly thereafter he moved to Sydney where he took up employment in design and lighting, inspired by Australia's natural light and landscape. Returning to England in 1992, he settled in Wiltshire, where he and his wife Serena raised four children. His work has been shown at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Waddesdon Manor, the Rothschild Collection, Buckinghamshire, and the Guggenheim Museum, New York. It is held in museum collections internationally including the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. www.brucemunro.co.uk
ABOUT INVESTEC AUSTRALIA
Investec Australia provides advice, capital and hedging products to High Net Worth, Corporate and Institutional clients; and invests in and manages real assets on behalf of third parties. In Australia, the focus is on core areas of Aviation, Corporate & Acquisition Finance, Financial Markets, Infrastructure Finance & Investment, Resources, Corporate Advisory, Property and Asset Management. They deliver local knowledge and expertise, backed by the strength of a global brand.
Investec Australia provides a gateway to the Investec Group, delivering clients global capability, products and solutions supported by a local team of experts who understand each business and are empowered to make decisions quickly. Investec believes in long term, mutually beneficial relationships where they, as a trusted adviser, grow as their clients grow. Investec lives their brand — Out of the Ordinary — in all they do.
ABOUT QANTAS FREIGHT
Qantas Freight Enterprises is the international and domestic air freight division of the Qantas Group and employs 1400 staff across the globe. Qantas Freight markets the freight capacity on Qantas and Jetstar passenger aircraft as well as operating a fleet of thirteen dedicated freighters to supplement capacity on key domestic and international routes.
This network, combined with the strength of the Emirates partnership and interline agreements, gives Qantas Freight significant network reach to more than 500 international and 80 domestic destinations. As well as being Australia's leading cargo carrier, Qantas Freight is also Australia's leading airfreight cargo terminal operator. Qantas Freight's network of 86 cargo terminals provides ground handling to the Qantas Group and 29 third party airlines.
ABOUT AYERS ROCK RESORT AND VOYAGES INDIGENOUS TOURISM AUSTRALIA
Ayers Rock Resort provides a variety of accommodation from the premium Sails in the Desert hotel, Award-winning Desert Gardens Hotel, newly renovated Emu Walk Apartments, the authentic Outback Pioneer Hotel and Lodge and Ayers Rock Campground. Ayers Rock Resort is managed by Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia.
Voyages Indigenous Tourism Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) and manages tourism and resorts on its behalf. Voyages offers unique experiences and cultural immersion in spectacular locations around Australia including Ayers Rock Resort in the Northern Territory, Home Valley Station in The Kimberley in Western Australia and the Mossman Gorge Centre, in Tropical North Queensland. Voyages works collaboratively with local communities, respecting and supporting the local Indigenous cultures and offering employment and training opportunities to the local and broader Australian and Torres-Strait Islander Indigenous communities.
Profits from all business activities are re-invested in the Indigenous and resort experiences and through the various training and development programs in place around Australia.
