Bruce Munro: 10 years of Projects at Salisbury Cathedral
Image: Water Towers, 2009/10. 15,180 2 litre recycled plastic bottle, water and LED light. Courtesy of Bruce Munro
LARGE SCALE LIGHT-BASED INSTALLATIONS
Internationally renowned artist Bruce Munro is a creative visionary with whom I’ve had the pleasure to work with on numerous projects at Salisbury Cathedral. He is probably best known for his immersive large- scale light-based installations.
I have worked for many years with internationally renowned artist Bruce Munro, Bruce is a creative visionary and we have collaborated on a number of projects at Salisbury Cathedral and elsewhere. He is probably best known for his immersive large scale light-based installations which have been seen all over the world, and notably at Waddesdon Manor in UK.
Munro's Water Towers was premiered in the cloister at Salisbury Cathedral in 2009, the installation was created from 220 large bottles filled with water and LED light, with a pitch activated light source causing the light to pulse and modulate to the voices of Salisbury Cathedral's choristers as they processed through and around the 69 towers of light.
Images: Water Towers, 2009/10. 2 litre recycled plastic bottles (15,180) water and LED light. Courtesy of Bruce Munro
Light Shower
I also commissioned Light Shower on behalf of the Dean and Chapter, which formed part of the Liturgy during the Cathedral’s famous Darkness to Light service held every year at the beginning of Advent. Situated high in the Nave Crossing, 2000 optic fibres ending in clear tear-drop shaped diffusers cascaded down to create a gossamer ethereal light.
Light Shower, 2009/10. 2000 optic fibre in tear drop diffuser by Bruce Munro
Star of Bethlehem
For Christmas 2014 we commissioned Star, Bruce Munro’s interpretation of the Star of Bethlehem , His ‘language of light series’ is a literal and visual abstraction of the text from the New Testament, Matthew 2:1-12, telling the story of the wise men following a star to find baby Jesus, the Messiah, translated into Morse code and communicated through a series of dots and dashes, or short and longer pulses of light.
This animation of radiating lines of light is projected onto the still water of Bill Pye’s famous, Living Water font, it grows to its fullest extent in 2 mins 20 sec, the light flows over the font bathing all around it in light. The biblical text scrolls along each point of the star.
Star of Bethlehem 2014. Light projection over William Pye’s Font. Courtesy of the artists.
Time and Place
Time and Place was commissioned as part of the 800th anniversary of the building of Salisbury Cathedral. Sited within the alcoves of the North Porch area, Bruce created interior and exterior portraits of Salisbury Cathedral in its 800th year, they appear as pixels, the filmic data is taken from a compilation of 360-degre iPhone panoramas and create a mesmerising visual experience..
Bruce Munro totally appreciates how to work in the context of a place of worship, his creations have brought joy and inspiration to hundreds of thousands of visitors over the years and it has been a great privilege to work with him and his accomplished team at Munro Studio. We are currently discussing several future projects in different locations.
Time and Place, 2020. Corean, Aluminium dibond and light source. 60.8 x 222.1 cm. Courtesy of Bruce Munro
Confluence, 2019 - 5 panels comprising 240 recycled CD’s by Bruce Munro.
Confluence
In 2019 the artist created a site-specific installation for the walls of the cathedral refectory titled, Confluence. He created five panels of light to represent the five rivers that surround the Cathedral . Each panel was made up of 240 recycled CDs arranged in the pattern of morse code for the letter C. The Refectory is the perfect context for these shimmering panels as it is a very light, open and contemporary space, the glass roof structure allows natural light to create the illusion of moving water. The five river panels change throughout the day in accordance with the light source, dazzling the viewer and tricking the eye when viewed from different angels.
Photography by Ash Mills