San Francisco’s Bay Bridge is attempting to steal some of the spotlight from the city’s more popular Golden Gate Bridge with its new piece of art, The Bay Lights. 1.8 miles of the 4 mile bridge have been completely covered in controllable and customizable LED lights as part of an exciting new project by artist Leo Villareal.
Each individual light can be controlled live, straight from artist Leo Villareal’s computer. The lights are all Internet connected, so Leo is able to change patterns and settings whenever he pleases. The lights turn on every night after sunset and stay lit until 2 am the next day. This lights show will continue to happen each and every night for the next two years, when the city plans to take them down.
Villareal wants to create something that will blend in perfectly with the surrounding city and that citizens will miss when it’s not there. “That’s the ultimate success. If you can make something that people really want to make part of their lives.”
The piece cost roughly $8 million in donations, with costs including electricity, maintenance and removal.
If you want an extremely in-depth and behind the scenes look at the creation of The Bay Lights, watch Tested’s 20 minute video at the top of the page.
