Photon Festoons

The inspiration came from my travels in Germany. Festoons would be strung over outdoor Oktoberfest beer garden spaces, the same commodity party light you rent for a wedding tent. I thought I could elevate the concept by hanging them in a grid instead of stringing them in lines, with every bulb replaced by an individually addressed LED.

Photon Festoons is a light art installation I created using LED festoon bulbs with custom-designed electronics to produce an immersive canopy of light that brought a sparkle to the night sky. I programmed 600 individually-addressed lights across 900 channels of DMX data to display generative patterns that react in real time to the sounds of accompanying musical performances.

They fittingly debuted in 2021 at Boynton Yards' Oktoberfest. The Festoons have been a key element of the Diode stage of Vermont’s regional Burning Man event for three years running. Diode is the largest sound camp at the event, which draws over 1,500 people. They have been redeployed many times since Boynton Yards, from warehouse parties to festivals.