Lightscapes Maccina
Light Object, 2025 — art'otel London Hoxton, London, England
Light Object, 2025 — art'otel London Hoxton, London, England
Lightscapes Maccina is a lighting device prototype that projects seemingly three-dimensional light structures and exposes the unpredictable reflections cast off of the surface of an augmented disc, revealing its microtopography as a spatial lightscape. This prototype contains a system - a light source and reflector - that projects a lightscape on to the room's surroundings. As the augmented reflector revolves, it casts light beams off of its specular surface which transcribe its geometry in light. Different reflector geometries generate different light patterns.
Designed with Avner BenNatan.
Featured in 'Mirrored Lightscapes' light installation at Art'otel London, Hoxton. Part of London Design Festival 2025.
Contact yael@lightexture.com for more information and purchase.
Photography and videography by Avner BenNatan.
featured in
An immersive light and sound installation at art'otel London, Hoxton, part of 2025 London Design Festival.
Light has been used since antiquity as a conceptual tool in the construction of drawing projections. This work uses light as a device to create live drawings that can change in real time. Erel uses a combination of digital fabrication and hand craft to develop three dimensional reflectors. As light reflects off the revolving reflector surface it transcribes the three-dimensional information coded in the mirrored material in minute scale into a dynamic spatial lightscape that engages the viewer in a meditative gaze.
As the reflectors revolve, the light drawings transform, projecting the three-dimensionality of the surface and creating a dynamically changing lightscape that engages the viewer in a meditative gaze. The reflector topography was derived from aspects of the human anatomy (vocal cords, mouth, lungs) and fabricated with the use of a robotic arm that embosses the surface of a stainless-steel mirror surface. They create an alternative way of spatializing imagery of the human body as light density.
Immersive light projections serve as the illumination source for the physical phenomena of reflection, amplifying minuscule conditions that are normally overlooked and translating micro scale surface events into otherworldly light drawings at an architectural scale. As viewers interact with the work, the microscopic transcription blends aspects of natural sciences and with spatial reverie, engaging the viewer’s curiosity and extending their way of seeing their environment. These drawings reflect upon both technology and nature, and the movement embedded within the work allows for an immersion within a world that is both rational known and mysterious. Join artist Yael Erel in conversation with Avner BenNatan, Gadi Sasson, and Andy Lomas for a dynamic panel exploring the intersection of digital art, light, and the human body. Taking Erel’s exhibition Mirrored Lightscapes as a point of departure, the speakers will discuss how light can act as both material and medium in contemporary art practice. The conversation will delve into experimental uses of digital fabrication, robotic processes, and generative systems, highlighting how artists today translate scientific imagery and natural forms into immersive, meditative experiences. Together, they will reflect on the evolving relationship between technology, nature, and perception in the realm of digital and light-based art.
Full Project Team Credits Light scape: Yael Erel, Avner BenNatan, with support by Carla Leitao and Nic Roscioli-Barran Soundscape: Gadi Sassoon RPI research Students: Alex Fuss, Julian Pasquale, Ethan Aspiras, Scott Sigmund, Javier Torres Technical Support: Claire Moriarty and RPI fabrication labs Sculpting Lightscapes Yael Erel process Film - art’otel London Hoxton Auditorium: Chalkley Calderwood Exhibition: Artwork by Yael Erel Soundscape by Gadi Sassoon Curation by Alisa Lisovskaia, art & culture program manager at art’otel London Hoxton