Heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. Heart-shaped pillows. Heart-shaped kinetic light installations mounted on brick walls, powered by hundreds of LEDs.
One of those is not like the others.
Just ahead of Valentine’s Day, the Toronto Light Festival is on at the Distillery District for the third year in a row. The festival features the artwork of international and local artists. It’s meant to educate, inspire and hopefully warm the hearts of visitors who attend the event in often frigid temperatures.
A new installation that’s catching the eyes of many is the EDGE-LIT HEART. It’s a large light sculpture made up of 11 acrylic panels that form the shape of a heart. LED bulbs light up the panels with video and show off an incredible spectrum of rainbow colours.
@MichaelBuble's album "Love" inspired this beautiful edge-lit heart installation. #CJRL715 #tolightfest #Toronto pic.twitter.com/noUBeqL6mp
— Gokul Gobikrishna (@GGokul21) January 30, 2019
Tweets from visitors show that the multilayered art piece is unique from every angle.
The Toronto Light Festival in the Distillery is on until March 3rd if you can brave the cold! #TOLightFest #MBLoveTO @michaelbuble @WarnerCanada pic.twitter.com/wWU2XDBObH
— Alex Bellissimo (@alexbellissimo) January 28, 2019
#Toronto #TOLove #tolightfest #distillerydistrict #spreadinglove pic.twitter.com/xvTULVt6Pg
— gabushka (@gabushkena) February 10, 2019
It even got some “wows” from Toronto city councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam.
Winter blues got you down? Check out this happy-making rainbow + heart light installation at the @DistilleryTO. I guarantee it will put a smile on your face. 😊 #TOLightFest pic.twitter.com/x8vFuZIzks
— Kristyn Wong-Tam 🇨🇦 (@kristynwongtam) February 12, 2019
The Toronto-based artist behind the popular attraction, Craig Small, spoke about the role that vintage technology played in developing the heart.
“Old calculators used to use nixie tubes and edge-lit numeric displays, which inspired the illumination method for the heart,” he said.
Small is a visual artist, director and inventor, who co-founded the creative studio The Juggernaut Productions. As a kid, Small was fascinated with the magic of early computers, animation and, of course, his trusty Lite-Brite. That led to his love affair with creating art.
Toronto-based artist Craig Small, who put together the EDGE-LIT HEART installation. Small’s childhood obsession with old technology has led to an impressive art career. (Courtesy OF Craig Small)
He was commissioned by Warner Music Canada to interpret Michael Bublé’s new album, Love. Small only had three weeks to put the installation together. He worked tirelessly with longtime friend and fellow creator Rudy Ledvinka to get it done in time.
Small hopes that people draw their own conclusions from his work.
“The sculpture takes on different shapes and reveals different qualities depending on the viewers’ perspective,” he said. “(It’s) a sentiment that mirrors the concept of love itself.”
The heart is one of 30 light-based art installations that will be on display at the Toronto Light Festival until March 3.