Fake views: Singapore creates artificial northern lights over park
Anyone who wants to marvel at the northern lights can now do so not only in Norway, Finland and Iceland, but also in Singapore, where city gardens have engineered an artificial aurora borealis spectacle using lasers and machine-made clouds.
A new light installation entitled "Borealis" is launching on May 5 in Singapore's nature park Gardens by the Bay. The centrepiece of the park are a group of so-called Supertrees - 18 futuristic tree-like constructions with more than 160,000 plants growing on their metal frames.
For years, these living sculptures have been exploding into colour every evening at dusk in a Garden Rhapsody light show. In the latest spectacle, 30 lasers and machines that generate cloud particles have now been mounted on the trunks.
The aim is to create a special effect: It almost seems as if real northern lights are shining in the sky, the Straits Times newspaper wrote after an exclusive preview.
The artificial aurora borealis, created by Swiss artist Dan Archer, is accompanied by a moody soundtrack composed by France's Guillaume Desbois.
Opened in 2012, the Gardens by the Bay are located in the centre of the Southeast Asian city state. Admission to the 101-hectare complex on the Marina Bay waterfront is free. Information is available at www.gardensbythebay.com.
