“me + you” by Suchi Reddy, with contributions from Levia Lew.
The much-anticipated FUTURES exhibition celebrating the Smithsonian Institution’s 175th anniversary is now open to the public. The long-closed Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building has temporarily reopened to house the multidisciplinary exploration of what the future may hold.
At the exhibit’s center in the 90-foot-high rotunda soars me + you, a two-story, interactive sculpture incorporating light and the latest in artificial intelligence (A.I.) analysis. Artist and architect Suchi Reddy, founder of Reddymade Architecture and Design, engaged Reveal Design Group lighting designer Levia Lew to help bring her vision to fruition.
We spoke with Lew about her collaboration with Reddy, as well as her professional path and what she finds makes for a successful artistic collaboration.
Suchi Reddy (left) with Levia Lew (right).
aspire design and home: Describe me + you and explain why it required the expertise of a lighting designer.
Levia Lew: The sculpture comprises three illuminated elements: a shimmering cloud of light points at the ends of over 1,000 translucent, glowing acrylic rods; nine dynamic hemispherical LED portals; and a 20-foot-high central pillar composed of radiating fins with LED panels hidden within. Exhibit visitors are invited to speak their future vision in a single word into one of the LED portals. Utilizing A.I. techniques, the artwork translates the vision word and its tone into a unique kinetic expression of color and light, which then flows up the center totem where input from the other eight portals is combined into an ever-changing representation of “collective futures”.
Light embodies both the physical and the metaphysical in this sculpture. The physical function is for the sculpture to simply be seen. Light fixtures had to be embedded within the sculpture to allow the rods to glow and for the LED portals to have a physical form in which to transmit the content of color and movement. The metaphysical function of light is to visibly manifest the abstract expression and emotion of each visitor. My role on the design team was to determine the most appropriate light fixtures that would (a) fit within the sculpture’s dimensions, (b) have the optical properties to capitalize upon the materials chosen, and (c) fit within the allotted budget. My experience in museum and theatre lighting design gave me the technical knowledge to jump in with the Bednark Studio fabrication team at the onset to determine workable solutions.
Suchi Reddy standing in front of “me + you,” Courtesy Heather Hazzan.
adh: How did you come to collaborate with Suchi Reddy and have you worked together before?
LL: In 2017 we were connected through a mutual friend in the lighting industry. Subsequently, Suchi invited us to collaborate on a large residential and hotel development in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, of which a portion was designed by the late Karl Lagerfeld.
We were delighted when Suchi asked us once again to collaborate, this time on her 2019 winning design for the Times Square Art Alliance’s annual “Love in Times Square” competition. Later that same year, Suchi brought us on board to help realize her vision for Google’s exhibit at the 2019 Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy: A Space for Being.
adh: What inspires you about collaborating with Reddy? What makes your collaborations so successful?
LL: I love how Suchi is constantly exploring the viewer’s innate relationship with beauty and technology. Her openness to ideas and collaboration is inspiring and rewarding to be a part of. On a personal level, as a fellow woman of color business owner, I greatly admire her grace and confidence in a highly competitive and male-dominated field while maintaining the integrity of her innovative artistry through collaboration and pro-active involvement.
adh: This sculpture includes an A.I. component. How does that interface with the physical lighting structure?
LL: For this portion, I drew on my connections in the lighting world to enlist the help of amazingly talented and brilliant designers whose technical artistry connects the scientific aspect of lighting design with the emotive and abstract effect of light on viewers.
Rendering courtesy Reddymade.
adh: What role do you believe lighting will play in the future?
LL: I’m not convinced that we yet fully understand light’s potential in both the physical and metaphysical worlds. The more we attempt to understand light through quantum physics and other sciences beyond my comprehension, the more we discover about our universe and the limits of our knowledge. These pursuits will undoubtedly inform our future in unpredictable ways.
I think humanity is on the cusp of a major shift in our relationship with our physical world. The social, political and environmental upheaval on Earth notwithstanding, we seem to be heading toward serious space exploration. I’m not a physicist or astronomer by any stretch, but from my memories of high school physics, the standard of measuring time and distance in space is the speed of light.
Beyond being the odometer for space travel, light has long-served as a metaphor for creation, revelation and spirituality. It marks our past as much as it holds a key to our future. It was one of the first things that signaled the universe’s creation and the last thing our telescopes see when a star dies. Long-dead stars only extant by their visible light fill our skies and stories in all cultures. I think that we are just at the start of our journey with light’s potential to change our lives in ways that I can’t even predict or imagine.
Interestingly, the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building where Suchi is debuting me + you first showcased Thomas Edison’s light bulb, which has become a modern signifier for new ideas. Now here we are leaping into the future with space travel, the need for faster and more efficient informational transfer as well as envisioning new emotional/psychological manifestations of humanity’s physical and spiritual futures.
adh: What is in the works at Reveal Design Group?
LL: Having just completed the lighting design for the world’s first Google retail store, the renovation of Daniel Boulud’s DANIEL restaurant, the Walt Disney Hotel Swan Reserve, and the historic Langham Hotel, we are extremely fortunate to have myriad exciting projects in the works to include:
- A new ground-up luxury hotel and residential development at the Estates at Acqualina in Florida designed by the late Karl Lagerfeld and Reddymade
- A full-scale renovation of the Fairmount Southampton in Bermuda
- A boutique hotel development in the Riverside Industrial Historic District in Asheville, North Carolina.
Me + you is on display at the Smithsonian Institute now through July 2022.
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