Client: Atlanta International Airport

Location: Atlanta, GA, United States

Completion date: 2012

Artwork budget: $300,000

Project Team

Artist

Christopher Janney

Client

Atlanta International Airport

Overview

“Light Waves: Atlanta” is an ever-changing composition of light, sound and interactivity. Composed of 32 single-source moving lights on the ceiling and 32 panes of 8 ft. horizontal transparent glass, together with an interactive sound-score, this is one of my unique “Urban Musical instruments.” Passing pedestrians can touch places on the wall which will initiate the sound-score and cause changes in the light composition.

Goals

The site was very constricting- only work on one side, keep ambient light up, pedestrian traffic flows in one direction. That said, these kinds of constraints are often what allows for a site-specific artwork to be well-integrated in its environment.
The hallway is 160 feet long by 10 feet wide; an underground pedestrian tunnel in the new International Arrivals Building in Atlanta, GA. This totally linear controlled light environment was a perfect space to explore my interest in transparent colored glass and moving light.

Process

All public artwork is a collaborative process, especially in a high-traffic airport environment. As with any architectural project, the site-analysis is most important; understanding the limits within which to make the work. Interfacing with the architects, engineers and airport staff would not have been possible without the airport’s full-time art administrators. This was the key to a successful collaborative process.