Light Work 

• Kat Aleman

After five years as director of Utah Arts Alliance's annual Illuminate Light Art & Creative Tech Fest, Kim Angeli Tahoe notes that she has a unique perspective on the legitimacy of technology-based visual art relative to its more "traditional" cousins like painting and sculpture. Yet she also acknowledges that there is still a bit of a stigma associated with such art—albeit one that isn't really supported by history.

"I do think that is still out there," Tahoe says of such perceptions. "But it's something we put forth as part of the festival, emphasizing STEAM [science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics] vs. just STEM, how art is related to all of the other applications. Dating back to da Vinci, they've always been related."

After a shift in format last year necessitated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Illuminate returns to its showcase of large-scale installations of projection mapping and other light-based art, music performances, hands-on activities and other exhibits. Twenty-five installation pieces will be on display throughout The Gateway, representing both local artists and folks from around the country, presenting work that by its very nature is frequently collaborative.

"We might have people who are programmers but who don't have the artistic vision, or artists who don't have the technical experience, so we can bring people together," Tahoe says. "There are very few pieces you will see [at Illuminate] that are put together by one vision."

That collaboration also includes the ability of Illuminate crew to provide the infrastructure support for the kind of work that requires a unique presentation space, and plenty of assistance with some of the more mundane details of mounting such an event. "There are a lot of logistics—permits, cables, all of the non-fun-stuff—and that's what I do," Tahoe says. "But one of the other barriers to this form of art is the expense associated. We do large- and small-scale projection mapping pieces. ... The projectors you need can have a rental cost of $20,000 a day."

And while some of these creators do work for things like concerts or large corporate events, it's less common for it to be available for general viewing. "They're not usually seen in the public arena," Tahoe says. "The first thing that we do is bring it to the public and make it accessible, so they can see it."

In addition to the outdoor artistic installations, Illuminate features opportunities for visitors of all ages to check out smaller-scale creative work indoors, as well as try their own hand at tech-based creation. The Light Lounge offers refreshments and seating with a showcase for light art and projection works, while the Discovery Gateway-sponsored Kids Light Lab allows youngsters their own interactive art-and-science experience. In the STEAM Lab, multiple organizations—including SpyHop, Clark Planetarium and STEAMpunk Academy—provide plenty of examples of the intersection of art and technology. For those 21 and over, there's also the After-Glow party with a cyberpunk theme.

For Tahoe, in addition to the participatory component those spaces provide, it's simply practical for Illuminate to give people a place to get out of the November weather. "We're really trying to program in a way that people do embrace our urban core in the winter months," she says.

While Illuminate corresponds to the start of the holiday season—and the time when people are putting up season light displays, some of them quite elaborate—Tahoe emphasizes that this isn't an event about fancy strings of Christmas lights. "I think we try to [differentiate] by describing it as a light art and creative tech fest. I try very specifically to steer clear of the holiday [theme]," she says. "By scheduling it the weekend after Daylight Saving Time ends, on a practical level, it's more time for the artists' work to be visible. But what I've heard time and time again is, there's this feeling heading into the darkest days of the year, that can be hard on a lot of people. So Illuminate is bringing something to address that."

The result, as Tahoe has seen over the course of her time working with Illuminate, is a unique kind of response from those who attend, very different from the way someone might experience art in a traditional gallery space. "In some ways, it's a little overwhelming," she notes. "It's a sensory experience—things are blinking, you're looking up, you're looking down. You're engaging with one art piece, and in the background you're already seeing something else. ... This has always been a very family-heavy crowd, partly because it's a free community festival. You get that enthusiasm from the kids, which is what you want when you're doing something like this."