In Paso Robles, California, a hillside meadow is illuminated each night with thousands of colorful glowing orbs. The temporary installation, Field of Light, is the latest and largest version of the itinerant project by Bruce Munro.
Munro is a British artist who is known especially for large, immersive light installations. He conceived of Field of Light in 1992 and spent a decade developing its first version at Wiltshire in 2004. Since then, about twenty subsequent installations have appeared in the UK, US, Mexico, and most notably, at Uluru in Australia.
In California, Munro has chosen the golden hills of a Central Coast wine growing region for his installation. The 15-acre site is planted with 58,800 colored lights, making it the largest Field of Light to date. The lights are solar-powered, connected to one another and to solar panels with a mass of fiber-optic strings. They illuminate at sunset and gradually change color, transforming the landscape into an immersive light sculpture.
In an undeveloped area near Paso Robles, the field is slated to become a hotel and events center with gardens and outdoor art installations called Sensorio. In the meantime, Field of Light is an audience-building attraction for the future development, attracting about 3,000 visitors each week since it opened in May.
Field of Light at Sensorio continues through January 5, 2020.