Stephen Hurrel

Lighting Design - Winner 2008

During most of the 90s Stephen explored various forms of new media including video, slide projection, interactive computers and programmed lighting. His main interest at that time was in how art could function within a social, urban context and how new media technologies could be utilised as tools for the art making process. In spite of producing many temporary site-specific installations and interventions his interest in light and digital media gradually outweighed other interests and led to a series of work using programmed light to play with the modernist grid of existing buildings. These often interactive installations would celebrate the grid on the one hand, and undermined its architectural integrity on the other. Furthermore he liked that an unprepared public in reaction to such an installation might make them question not only the authority of the building but also think about what other everyday objects could be re-imagined. Since 2000 he has produced several permanent artworks including ‘The Rings’ in Glasgow, an interactive light-based sculpture where light flows between four rings and responds to sound levels from the surrounding streets. His desire to create artworks that can function both day and night has led him to look at sustainable light based artworks, an area he sees ripe for development in his work.