Light show to give unforgettable finish to Hull's culture campaign

Where Do We Go From Here, by Jason Bruges Studio, features 21 repurposed industrial robots which will literally throw a new light on Hull Minster, the Museums Quarter and Beverley Gate, and the “unseen and unexpected corners” of the city’s night-time streets.

Raised on three-metre-high plinths, the robotic arms, which have been fitted out with light sources, mirrors and prisms, as well as directional speakers, have been choreographed to create a mesmerising interplay of light, shadow and sound.

Bruges’s work may be familiar from The Shard’s light display on New Year’s Eve 2014 and last year’s Illuminating York, when he used light and mist to carve shapes out of the vast space of the Nave of York Minster.

He said the idea was to use the robots as “beacons”, giving people a way to navigate through the streets: “It’s very much like walking round an urban art gallery; you can walk through in any order, you can take as long as you like, stay as long as you like, come on different days.” It runs for five weeks, starting December 1, and for the first ten days will run alongside virtual-reality art installation A Colossal Wave! on Hull Marina.

Keeping the crowds coming will be a third show, a giant projection of an iceberg onto The Deep aquarium, over the weekend of December 8 to 10.

Niccy Halifax, executive producer Hull 2017, said: “Where Do We Go From Here? will be a visually stunning piece of art unlike anything ever seen in a public space.”