Union Terrace Gardens will be transformed into a giant playground tomorrow as the annual Aberdeen festival of light gets underway.
The centre of the site will be home to illuminated musical see-saws which change colour and generate noise as people bounce up and down on them for the fourth outing of Spectra.
Alongside this there will be another 15 other installations in the area and His Majesty’s Theatre will be transformed into a giant projection telling the story of Orpheus and Euridyce.
The see-saws, entitled Wave Field, have been created by Lateral Office.
Anne-Marie Paquette, one of the artists involved, explained the purpose of the unique work.
She said: “They create a light and sound experience.
“In each see-saw there is a being that needs to be woken up.
She added: “We were in London two weeks ago and the feedback we got is that adults had forgotten how to play for some reason and the unique setting of the work gives them permission to let loose a little.”
Councillor Marie Boulton, the culture spokeswoman at the city council, said she was sure people would “love” the latest addition.
She said: “Wave Field by Lateral Office is an exciting addition to the Spectra line-up.
“Visitors will love becoming part of the installation and seeing how it reacts to their movement.”
And Andy Brydon, director of Curated Place which produces Spectra, said this year would be the best yet.
He said: “I think our success has happened because we have been able to keep working with interesting artists.
“We have people coming from Netherlands, Iceland and Norway but we also work with artists in Aberdeen so we keep it grounded in the area.
“It will definitely be the best one yet, we have a bigger programme with events running in Union Terrace Gardens, Marischal College and St Nicholas Kirkyard.
“We’ve also got a conference involving speakers like Martin Green who took Hull to city of culture and Jean Cameron who led Paisley’s bid for this.”
