The Real Secrets of Houston’s moonGARDEN: Everything You Need to Know About the Giant Lighted Spheres Taking Over Discovery Green

Lucion Traveling Light of Montreal’s moonGARDEN  is lighting up Discovery Green downtown. In all, 22 illuminated spheres from six to 30 feet in diameter dot Discovery Green and the plaza at Avenida Houston, featuring 11 “shadow theaters” that tell the story of Houston and the downtown park itself, marking Discovery Green’s big 10th anniversary.

(Can you find the orb devoted to Beyoncé?)

The 10-day interactive art experience kicked off last Friday with performances from Cirque la Vie and a screening of the 1988 film Moonstruck, followed by three days of guided tours through the moonGARDEN at twilight.

There’s also special programming for the young folks: this Friday, October 5 at 7 pm, Discovery Green will host a citywide pajama party, with its children’s evening, “Goodnight, Moon,” featuring readings from classic children’s book across all the different languages spoken in Houston, topped off with milk and cookies.

PaperCity speaks to Lucion founder Bernard Duguay about everything moonGARDEN.

The idea.

I saw the work of an artist working with shadows at Venice Biennale and I realized how mesmerizing shadows could be. I looked at Christian Boltanski’s work with shadows. He is quite a master. I saw the original shadow theater plays in Bali.

The thousands of shades, the levels of sharpness and softness that shadows offered opened a whole world of possibilities… I felt that black-and-white had more depth than color itself.

The process of tailoring moonGARDEN for Houston.

The story is the first thing to wrap our heads around. Since we are making a fable with objects and light, we have to think like we are building a dream more than a realistic narrative. We spent a lot of time trying to make metaphors, allegories, and fantasies with the city as our topic.

A particular sphere to look out for.

The largest sphere has windows in it so we can see the mechanics of a shadow theater. Go have a peek.

Where does NASA fit in?

There is a clear allusion to the moon mission. We could have gone very deep and far into this story but Houston has a lot more to say.

What is special about Houston’s moonGARDEN versus the others Lucion has realized?

It’s so interesting to try and sum up a city in a short story. It is a huge exercise in synthesis. The most interesting notion, the one that kept surfacing, is the idea that “Big Things Happen” in Houston.

It is definitely a forward-looking city, a city that dares to dream. It is like fuel to our imagination.

Most challenging place where where moonGARDEN has been presented so far.

Beijing. Standard pieces of equipment in electrical systems, lighting, and video seemed very difficult to find. Shopping for industrial parts in Beijing is like going through your Facebook friends to buy a car. You have to know someone who knows someone who knows someone. Forget about large shopping centers.

The most challenging aspect of Discovery Green’s moonGARDEN.

This is the largest moonGARDEN we have produced since the very original installation in 2012. There was a lot of logistics involved.

Where moonGARDEN has been to date.

Montreal, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Medellin, Merida, Moscow, Mexico City, Brussels, Jerusalem, Beijing, Lyon, France, and Riga, Latvia.

Landing after Houston.

The next city is Guangzhou, China.

On the world-wide appeal of moonGARDEN.

There is something comforting in this low-tech light installation. In an era where there is a technological innovation [everyday], it feels good to see something we can all do with our hands.

Also, we like to think that the family of spheres represent a new (yet very old) way to live harmoniously next to each other. Georg Cantor, a German mathematician, created the set theory, a sort-of mathematical paradise that used circles to show how everything belonged together.

We’d love to deploy them in places that need healing.

What will Lucion create next?

We are developing a way to tell stories by adding cinema and surround-sound to the globes. We are also utilizing storytelling with micro-mapping video on the laser cutouts in urban gardens. We can’t wait.

The moonGARDEN is free. It is lit nightly from 6 pm to 12 am.

Note: this immersive installation has a very concise run; catch it now through Sunday, October 7.

Additional reporting by Catherine D. Anspon.