gARTen Begins to Glow!

Q: Are we America's First Outdoor, Black-Light, Trash Art Gallery? A: Chances are pretty darn good.

This week has been all about trying out 'permanent' lighting ideas at the gARTen, mainly black-light but also non-UV lighting which works with it, reinforcing our attempts to create an atmosphere where Day-Glo art pops. Last night after attending Jess Alaimo's comedy open mic show at the Anchor's Bend, I returned to see whether the timer I put in during the afternoon had functioned properly [it did] and check to see if the lights I set up during daylight were trained on their intended targets [they weren't]. I made some adjustments, the results of which you can see in the photos below.

We need a system that can stay up from May through October, comes on automatically via a timer, and is protected from the elements, yet can easily be broken down and moved to another location. For the events we participate in, like Asbury Underground, we have traditionally set up the Magic Tent, with a dozen or more black lights dispersed inside and outside the tent. That takes a lot of plugging and unplugging, and it all has to be done so that it is removable quickly if it begins to rain, as well as safely so that people don't trip over wiring or risk weather-related harm. The old-fashioned fluorescent tubes are very fragile, and very messy when broken -- and we've lost one per event, despite being careful. This has led us to sturdier LED lighting, which has the added advantage of drawing very little power. Below are two shots showing a few of the lights we've chosen: a purple 3-LED spotlight within a plastic mannequin, and a 16-foot, black-light, UV LED strip "bottle chain", with the strip enclosed inside a vinyl hose which is threaded through found plastic bottles. I'd like to see these bottle chains throughout the entire lot.

We are using three purple spotlights which arrived accidentally and are not true black lights, which light up ONLY the Day-Glo elements; these throw a great deal of light close to the UV spectrum on everything, so they make a nice fill light, establishing the vibe. Below shows how a purple LED spotlight creates a wash over the background, in this case "For Those About to Garden We Salute You!"; and on the entrance way tree.

Below shows how a pair of purple 3-LED spotlights -- encased in Tropicana bottles -- and a single 16-foot LED tape -- affect the front of the gARTen @ 713 Cookman.

I also enclosed a single black-light LED spotlight in the gARTen's standard, experimental, Tropicana bottle enclosure, which can just be seen to the left of the Jeep's bumper in the shot above, focused on the gARTen Bridge currently hung on the Parlor Wall. Below you can see how that spotlight and the Bridge's own LED tape, contained within the main bottle chain 'cable', are working so far.

Looking from over the Well Known Fence, towards the back of the lot you can see red light from a Tropicana-encased, Magic Light LED in a rubberized outdoor fixture; I hope to add another of these, and get them both higher up to throw a changing wash of color in two of our areas: the AP Aquarium & the rear Cookman Wall.

Overall, our new plan involves a three-stage, progressive effort which incorporates low-power-draw / high brightness LED UV lighting. We're in stage one, and we'll use our current Cookman Creamery power source for this initial effort. The goal is eventually to be utilizing solar power, delivered through outdoor-ready electrical cords enclosed in PVC pipe, to operate our lighting grid!

Are we America's First Community Outdoor, Black Light Trash Art Gallery?