'Luminations' Light Installation
Esther Rolinson

Summary

In this Computer Arts Society talk, artist Esther Rolinson presents 'Luminations', a major light installation commissioned for the North Promenade at Cleethorpes. She begins by outlining her process-based practice, which centres on large-scale, sensory public works using light, sculpture, and digital technology. Drawing on earlier pieces such as 'Thread' in Leicester and 'Revolve Materials', she explains how meticulous hand-drawn rule systems translate directly into three-dimensional structures and animated light patterns. For the Cleethorpes commission she responded to the vast Humber horizon, harsh coastal weather, and lively local beach culture, developing a linear festoon of individually addressable LEDs that winds along existing lampposts. Collaborating with lighting specialists Light Lab, engineer Dave Everett, and programmer Sean Clark, she has spent more than a year refining an extendable system of standardised curves, structural supports, and DMX programming. The talk candidly describes engineering setbacks, including the discovery that the lampposts could not safely carry two connected lines, and how these constraints reshaped both design and budget arguments. Throughout, Rolinson stresses drawing as a form of thinking, the ongoing dialogue between artist and engineer, and the ultimate goal of giving viewers a feeling of release and joy as light appears to travel across the seafront.

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