Tate Modern to Host "Blackouts"
How should one experience a Danish artist's solar powered art exhibit? In the dark, of course. This is the conclusion made by London's Tate Modern which will host "blackouts" in order to optimize renowned artist Olaf Eliasson's Little Sun exhibit.
Having worked on Little Sun over the past two years, Eliasson's work hopes to show the world the range of solar power and its ability to light areas of the globe that are currently "off the grid," a range that affects a total of 1.6 million people. The sunflower-esque solar lights will be on display from July 28 through September 12 as part of a Tate-funded initiative for the London 2012 Festival, a cultural exposition in conjunction with the Olympic Games.
Showing off its artistic flair, Little Sun will also allow visitors to experiment with light graffiti creation (seen at left). And of course to take advantage of this experimentalism, it is best done in the dark, check Tate Modern's calendar for special late night events highlighting blackouts.
The coolest part about Little Sun is that the solar powered lights will go on to work in the real world, being taken on by businesses in Kenya, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe. A smart investment seeing as the lights last six years and are charged solely by the sun: five hours of sun charging equals five hours of bright light.
