GLOW IN THE PARK
It’d be most child’s dream to ride a seven-coloured rainbow or a fluffy white cloud. Magical creatures beyond reality such as unicorns and dragons are often part of a child’s creative imagination.
Twenty years from my childhood, I found a place that can fulfil those dreams. Dubai Garden Glow is a place where light and colours can play a key role to mould imagination into forms of reality.
During a stroll under the evening sky, from the very first steps into Dubai Garden Glow, I noticed a crowd of parents with their children travelling inside this colourful, miraculous park. When twilight finally reached, the space was coated with artificial lights that were progressively activated area by area. To the children’s excitement (as well my own), colourful translucent glowing attractions appeared into vision. Some were standing, some were floating in the dark night sky and some cast their distorted reflections on the dark water surface. The later it got, the more obvious and visible those illuminated features became against the surrounding darkness.
Dubai Garden Glow delivers a dynamic story with different themes that transition from one zone to another. From illuminated plants and wildlife in the Happy Forest, marine animals in the Sea World, to mythical creatures and magical objects. There were many transitioning tunnels connecting and linking the areas together, and I was consumed by the colour-changing passageways of light, together with the positive effect they had on the children. For me it brought back childhood memories and dreams of travelling in a magical world. I spent quite some time observing and admiring the movement created by the dynamics of the colour-changing lighting effects on the floor surface and also the cheerful hearts of the children.
Being an amazing material in the form of electromagnetic energy, light itself can’t be seen by the naked eye and colour is only seen when light reflects from objects or surfaces. The glow from the light sources make animal, plant and human-featured objects come to life amongst the darkness of the approaching nighttime and allow the children to experience their existence with their own sensations.
Children can vary in terms of personalities depending on their upbringing, education, environment and numerous other factors, but there are many aspects of a child’s character that are often similar. It’s no surprise that they tend to be easily attracted by colourful items or attractions. Theoretically and psychologically, colours can stimulate a child’s mood, behavior and learning development. Thus, a combination of light and colours in a space that they can immerse themselves into, is like a four-dimensional piece of art demonstrating their real journey of growth and development.
In summary, I discovered that well-applied installations of light and colour can evoke a child’s inspiration to explore a new world of dream and imagination. Although the children couldn’t literally touch a cloud or ride a rainbow, at least their heart could travel through their own real-life bedtime fairy tales, made from such an intangible material as artificial light.
Blog post by Chayot Kiranantawat / Images © Chayot Kiranantawat
