Artwork that Inspires and Engages

Celebrated artist Blessing Hancock created her most innovative sculpture to date for the renowned entertainment venue, Fairgrounds Nashville, in Nashville Tennessee, USA. Drawing inspiration from Nashville’s rich story telling history and culture, this masterpiece is named Loqui, meaning “to speak” in Latin, and features the words and stories of more than 400 Nashvillians of all ages. Loqui is three stories high of stainless steel crafted into the shape of a dual megaphone to give local community members a voice but also listen to what they have to say. The final touch to this masterpiece included a complex lighting system by Color Kinetics, bringing the concept to life by creating a ripple effect similar to breathing.

Metro Arts Nashville, the office of Arts & Culture for the city of Nashville and Davidson County, TN, commissioned Hancock to create a site-specific sculpture to welcome visitors.  Fairgrounds Nashville is a popular entertainment space in the bustling city of Nashville, which receives hundreds of visitors a day, so Loqui had to be captivating. Blessing Hancock says, “Loqui is meant to be experienced by walking through it. I always think if you can walk through something, it can change you. I want people to take in the words and lights of Loqui and find a new connection to Nashville every time they visit.” Working in tandem with the innovative and unique shape of the sculpture, the lighting design aimed to personify the words of the city’s residents, inviting stories in and projecting them out.

The artwork utilizes Color Kinetics Flex Compact gen3 luminaires to achieve this vision. These luminaires provided the flexibility needed for the complexity of the design such as superior illumination to highlight the structure both during the day and at night and straight-forward software solutions making programming simple. The installation is controlled by Color Kinetics CM-150 CA gen2 and a Light System Manager (now specified with iPlayer4).

In addition, Color Kinetics products were chosen due to their ability to provide lighting solutions of the highest caliber while being supported by stellar product and technical support teams. Lighting designer, Chelsea Southard notes, “Not only are Color Kinetics products exceptional but the people behind them shine just as bright! The Color Kinetics team was there for everything from purchase orders to technical concerns and even over the phone field support. This helped us greatly in the creation of the lighting experience for Loqui and the success of the project.”