Member Article

Metro's 'Blue Bridge' lights up

Metro’s ‘blue bridge’ over the Tyne between Newcastle and Gateshead is to be lit with a constantly changing spectrum of lights, and everyone is being given the chance to choose the colours that will be seen by millions of people each year. The public have been asked to submit pictures at the website, www.metronocturne.com, where they will be contributing to one of the North East’s largest art installations.

These photos will be turned into digital ‘bar codes’ of colour projected within the structure of the bridge by 140 banks of LED lights – with two billion different patterns possible. Artist Nayan Kulkarni is seeking 6,000 different images to create the bars of light that will move back and forth every night for the next 15 years. The Queen Elizabeth II Metro Bridge is becoming known as the ‘blue bridge’ since its new paint scheme began to emerge this summer. Nocturne will be completed early next year, when the lights will be switched on across the 360-metre structure for the first time.

Nayan Kulkarni said: “Nocturne will be shaped by thousands of people. I want them to send digital photos to www.metronocturne.com from where they will be turned into ‘bar codes’ displaying their vital colour elements. “What’s important is not the image itself but the colours and contrasts within it – and the more striking the better. You might send a sunset that would turn different lights golden and purple, or daffodils that would send ripples of yellow and green across the bridge. “All the images will be programmed in before the lights of Nocturne are switched on for the first time, so this is a unique opportunity to take part.”

The website www.metronocturne.com contains full details about the project, and information on how to submit pictures.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .