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Lunar Crescendo - Nowon Moonlight Walk 2023

2023 · Seoul, Korea

Overview

Beneath a bridge over a stream, 37 elliptical rings hang in the curve of a crescent moon, and the light running along them reflects on the water. In October 2023, Apollon Immersive Works presented Lunar Crescendo, a media sculpture for 2023 Nowon Moonlight Walk, a public light festival hosted by Nowon-gu. The work was installed beneath Danghyeon Bridge No.3, above a stream. Made exclusively for the festival, it set out to turn an ordinary space under a bridge into a place filled with light and music.

A ring sculpture suspended from both ends beneath a bridge glows violet in a symmetrical curve, its light reflected in vertical streaks on the stream below.
Typologies
Media Sculpture
Location
Seoul, Korea
Client
Nowon Foundation for Arts and Culture

Concept

The work began with the crescent moon. Both its slender, curved form and the way it slowly waxes night after night were reimagined in a new form. As the title suggests, Lunar Crescendo brings together the moon and a gradual swell, so the piece is not a still object but one where light and sound build over time.

On a black background, a crescent, half moon, full moon, half moon, and waning crescent sit in a row, showing the moon waxing and then waning.
At night under a bridge, a crescent-shaped sculpture made of dozens of overlapping metal rings hangs from the ceiling and glows pink and violet, its light reflected on the stream below, with two people in white shirts seated on rocks at the right.
At night under a bridge, dozens of overlapping rings hang from the ceiling in a curved form glowing teal, their light reflected on the stream below, with a stone embankment and arched piers on either side and apartment buildings in the distance.

Sculptural Design

The sculpture is an 11.4-meter structure made of 37 elliptical rings threaded in a single line. The central ring is the largest at 1300 x 1040 mm, and the rings shrink and draw closer together toward each end, down to 258 x 206 mm. Because the structure is symmetrical around its center, hanging it from both ends beneath the bridge lets it sag naturally into the curve of a crescent. LEDs run along the edge of every ring, turning each one into a line of light.

On the left, a white wireframe drawing of the bridge underside, the stream, and the ring sculpture hanging below. On the right, a black-and-white view of hands attaching small white rings along a curved spine on a cutting mat.
A line-drawn 3D diagram on a dark gray background showing a long flat plate above, with lines dropping from both ends into a crescent-shaped curve, along which rings run small at the ends and large at the center.
A 3D technical drawing on a black background showing a single ring at the upper left, a ring exploded into three layers at the center, a cross-section of a slotted fixing block at the lower left, and five rings of different sizes hanging from a long beam at the right, with dimensions such as 58, 70, 147, 198 and 2 marked.

The work is suspended from the underside of the bridge, just above the surface of the stream. The space beneath the bridge holds a long natural reverberation, and the sound design draws on this so the music spreads through the space together with the light. Light from the rings reflects off the bridge soffit, the walls, and the moving water, shifting the scene over time. Visitors view the work from the walkways and steps on both banks and through the arches beneath the bridge.

A rendering of a small crescent-shaped ring sculpture hanging between the piers of a railed bridge under a starry night sky, with a stone bank and walkway at the left and steps at the right.
A rendering under a bridge washed in violet light, where rings hung from both ends of the ceiling trace a U-shaped curve glowing white and lavender, with rocks and water below.

Contents

Apollon Immersive Works planned and directed the work, developing the content together with artist Timo Helgert. The piece unfolds in three movements, with the color and motion of the light changing continuously over about 10 minutes. Music was composed by Meric and audio was handled by Paul Olivier Letrou, while Another Sunday built and programmed the hardware inside the rings.

A screen recording of a node-based video editing program, showing rows of identical node groups stacked vertically, a settings panel at the right with the resolution set to 2400 x 2160 and bar graphs below it, while the preview at the left keeps changing between pink and blue pixel stripes and a light blue mass as playback runs.
Cyan light moves along several elliptical rings set up in a studio, while a laptop beside them shows the content driving the light.
A 3D preview on a black background shows elliptical rings along a curve, lit in patches of white, violet, and pale blue.

Award

Korea Design Award 2023
Winner, Communication - Digital

Behind

There were about two months from planning to installation. The rings were set up in the studio to check the light, and the team visited the site repeatedly to study the underside of the bridge and how visitors would move through it. Installation involved scaffolding to fix the structure to the bridge, and programming and light checks continued on site until the very end.

A person passes along the walkway beneath the bridge as a blurred trail, while pink rings curve through the arches behind and tint the ground.

Credit

Concept Design & Creative Direction
APOLLON IMMERSIVE WORKS
Contents Artist
Timo Helgert
Hardware Production & Programming
Another Sunday
Music Artist
Meric
Audio Artist
Paul Olivier Letrou
Location
Danghyeon Bridge No.3, Nowon, Seoul
Photography
Ilda Kim
Video Production
Yongmin Choi
Sponsored
Nowon Foundation for Arts and Culture

Frequently Asked Questions

Lunar Crescendo is a media sculpture presented in October 2023 at 2023 Nowon Moonlight Walk. Thirty-seven elliptical rings hang in a crescent curve beneath Danghyeon Bridge No.3 in Nowon, with light and music building over about ten minutes.
Apollon Immersive Works handled concept design and creative direction for Lunar Crescendo. The content was developed with artist Timo Helgert, Another Sunday built and programmed the hardware, Meric composed the music, and Paul Olivier Letrou handled the audio.
Lunar Crescendo is symmetrical, so when both ends are hung beneath the bridge it sags naturally into the curve of a crescent. It is an 11.4-meter structure of 37 elliptical rings threaded in a single line, with the central ring the largest at 1300 x 1040 mm and the rings shrinking toward each end.
Lunar Crescendo draws on the long reverberation beneath the bridge so the music spreads through the space together with the light. Light from the rings reflects off the bridge soffit, the walls, and the moving water, shifting the scene over time.
Lunar Crescendo was named a Winner at the Korea Design Award 2023 in Communication - Digital.
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