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Glow vs. Glare

There are two kinds of light - the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures. James Thurber

The garden changes throughout the summer, it fluctuates by plants growing bigger from abundance to harvest. It is a magical scenery for characters. Shapes are created by lights and its shadows like clouds form sheep in the sky or the man in the moon.

Glow vs. Glare is an illuminated sculpture that addresses glowing and glaring city lights in a recovering neighborhood. Placed in the Food City Community garden on Pittsburgh’s Northside the illuminated spherical sculpture welcomes you at night and creates a peaceful glow. The community garden occupies an empty plot surrounded by small alleys and empty houses. While the garden is dark, lights in the neighborhood obscure the landscape. Houses are lit up but leave the surrounding dark, street lights glare, cars pass by and animate obstacles with their bright moving headlights.

The nocturnal sculpture illuminates at dusk and shares energy collected throughout the day. The solar powered lights illumine the sculpture from within and emit a soft glow. Constructed from fiberglass the sphere exhibits a texture created from the glass fibers and a translucent yellowish color from the resin. The light is faint and subdued but prominent enough to shine like the moon.

This work was made for the Neu City artist in residency program at Neu Kirche Contemporary Art Center in Pittsburgh and is located in the Food City community garden bounded by Tripoli Street, Retail Way and Lovitt Way on Pittsburgh's Northside.

Street View Community Garden - Neu Kirche Contemporary Art Center Pittsburgh, PA

Anika Hirt

Anika Hirt is a media artist from Hamburg, Germany with many homes, currently discovering the peculiar golden McNuggets of the promised land. More info here

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