Erwin Redl is one of my favourite lighting installation artists, and I was lucky enough to work with him in his New York studio helping build Matrix VIX, a fibre-optic installation for the Bloomberg Headquarters in New York.

Commisioned by the Public Art Fund, and designed by Erwin Redl, the 10 x 50ft installation consisted of over 36,000 individual fibre-optic strands threaded into glass-covered steel. Unlike a lot of light installations where the state of the lights themselves are modified over time, Erwin’s approach is keep the lights behaviour static and allow the movement of the viewer to create the illusion of a changing state. As you move aound Matrix VIX the wall appears the glint and shimmer, when in-fact the lights remain constant. It’s a unique and insightful approach to this kind of work.

I helped with all aspect of the build over the course of 6 weeks – drilling, soldering, wiring, and of course the unenviable task of helping to thread 36,000 individual fibre-optic strands into an equal amount of 1mm holes…