reflecting the stars

Will Our Children Wish Upon a Star?

Reflecting the Stars uses wirelessly-controlled-solar-powered-LED-lamps to recreate our night sky on the decaying posts of Pier 49 in the Hudson River at Bank Street in Manhattan. The project is free to the public and will be a featured highlight of NYC Climate Week.

Nightly, lights will twinkle in various patterns as the tides conceal and reveal the lights. Visitors on shore can press buttons which highlight constellations that are no longer seen in urban centers because of air and light pollution.

Reflecting the Stars was created by Jon Morris, who grew up in a small town in Kentucky star-gazing on Lake Cumberland.

"We hope to not only give the viewer a sublime moment of reflection but also raise their awareness about our disappearing night sky," said Morris, founder and artistic director of The Windmill Factory art collective. "This combination will motivate people to turn off lights at home, ask their offices to put lights on timers, and perhaps even help influence public lighting policy."

To avoid disturbing the fish hatcheries under the pier posts, a method of controlling solar-powered LEDs with radio waves was conceived and designed by Morris, Rich Schwab and Andy Baker of Kontraptioneering. The system was programmed and fine-tuned by Google Senior Software Engineer Adam Berenzweig, with interns from MIT and NYU's Interactive Technology Program.

Steel pipe caps were chosen for the casing of the lights, which rust within days of installation to match the natural decay of the once-bustling transportation pier. The contrast of new technology encased in a rusting shell mirrors our species' race for advancement that is changing the climate, melting our glaciers, and leaving us at a global crossroads. The installation will be a site of celebrations, protests, and other convergences.

Known for interactive multi-disciplinary work, The Windmill Factory makes its NYC debut with Reflecting the Stars. The project had no major funding but was made possible by 2 ½ years of perseverance from numerous volunteer collaborators and product sponsors, including Nick Bastis, Ana Luiza Constantino, Abram Lewis-Rosenblum, Robert Bethge, Hudson River Park Trust, Seeed Studio, E & T Plastics, Tenergy Batteries and the Phelan Foundation. A micro-funding campaign encourages people to dedicate stars on an interactive website by Sara Chai Butler continues. Dedications can be made at www.thewindmillfactory.com.

Light pollution obscures the stars and, like any other form of pollution, disrupts ecosystems and has adverse health effects. As we lose our view of the universe we perhaps lose our place in the world, our perspective of being part of a solar system. Without this macrocosmic perspective it is arguably easier to stop taking care of our surroundings and our planet.

What: Reflecting the Stars

Where: Pier 49 in the Hudson River Park (at West 11th Street.) Free.

When: August 19 – Oct 25 daily from sunset to midnight.

Special Events: August 30th Sunset Launch with Charles Renfro(DS + R), Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, and others.

September 19 – 26 part of Climate Week Events, TBA

Weekly On Site Telescope Star Gazing with Astronomers, TBA

Reflecting The Stars Was Engineered by Adam Berenzweig

Light Design with Rich Schwab and Andy Baker at Kontraptioneering

Logo, Plaque, and Video by Nick Bastis. Production support Abram Lewis-Rosenblum

Star dedication website by Sara Chai Butler

Sponsored by Pure Project, Seeed Studio, Edmund Scientific, Tenergy, Otto, E & T Plastics, Cute Digi, Rob Bethge, Phelan Foundation.

With Ana Luiza Constantino, William Oberlin, Corrie Van Sice, Aparna Sundaram, Gabriella Levine, Lynn Burke, Shana Tribiano, Danielle Pinna, Justin Boone, Jeff Yurcan, Aparna Sundaram, Chris Berlin, Emily Davis, Michael Mathis, Karen Fuhrman, hundreds more kind volunteers, and...