What's up with Santa Claus?

Let's take a brief glimpse into the world of the polar night and the land of eternal snow - at least in pictures we can look at. In December, the Särkänniemi amusement park in Tampere, Finland hosted the inaugural Valkea Light and Art Festival called "Step Into The Light." The event transformed the park into an immersive art realm, engaging the senses with captivating visual art installations combining light, music and live performances.

The creative direction and production of the festival has been assumed by Finnish artist Kari Kola, known for his experience in light art for more than two decades and his key role in more than 2,000 projects. Recognized as a pioneer in the field of light art, Kola's portfolio includes extensive outdoor work, even in challenging conditions.

"Step Into the Light" was inspired by a 2017 piece of light art by artist and designer Michel Suk. Suk, a Dutch light technician and artist with experience in lighting for theater, television and musical performances, draws inspiration from architecture and music in his work. He has played a leading role in hundreds of major projects around the world, including light festivals such as the GLOW Festival, where he met Kola.

Leakage class required!

For the Festival, Valkea Suk adapted "Step Into the Light," using 24 Proteus Hybrid moving heads from Elation mounted on the tops of vertical towers in a circular pattern. They needed a device that could emit a very narrow, highly focused beam while remaining reliable in extremely cold temperatures. Any weather protection was also unacceptable.

"I've presented this work several times in the past, and in the beginning it was difficult to find IP65 fixtures, so we used domes, which are not ideal because they diffuse light," he explains. "Kari was looking for lights that would meet these limitations and came across the Proteus Hybrid." Tried and tested in projects around the world since 2017, Proteus Hybrid offered a guarantee that everything would go smoothly.

The conceptual challenge

Suk explains that the lights must be equidistant from each other and exactly perpendicular to the ground, otherwise there are offsets. "In a sense, it's a simple concept, but if it's not executed correctly, the effect is unsatisfactory. If, on the other hand, we apply ourselves to correcting the physical position of the devices as well as accurately setting the position from the controller, the result is beautiful patterns that look like an old game of spirograph. All the lights are directed at a point in the center, and then you can aim at a point a little higher up to get the floors of cross points. The possibilities are abundant."

Suk worked with designer and international event producer Bas Kemper on the project. He performed the setup and calibration with meticulous precision, working in -20 degree Celsius weather. "The calibration has to be done with extreme accuracy, and Bas did a great job," he says.

Despite initial concerns about whether the luminaires could withstand the Finnish weather, the Proteus Hybrid proved stable and reliable throughout the festival. The entire Valkea Art & Light Festival was a spectacular success, bringing light, joy and an extraordinary experience to the darkest time of the year.