Leo Villareal's "Buckyball" Light Sculpture Animates Madison Square Park

video by lulanoff

Madison Square Park Conservancy’s Mad. Sq. Art unveiled a new light sculpture at Madison Square earlier this evening - Leo Villareal's "Buckyball." Largely inspired by the work of Buckminster Fuller, Villareal’s BUCKYBALL applies concepts of geometry and mathematical relationships within a towering 30-foot tall, illuminated sculpture. feature two nested, geodesic sculptural spheres comprised of 180 LED tubes arranged in a series of pentagons and hexagons, known as a “Fullerene,” referring to the form’s discovery by Buckminster Fuller. Individual pixels located every 1.2 inches along the tubes are each capable of displaying 16 million distinct colors and will be specifically tuned by the artist’s own software, creating a subtle and sophisticated palette to enliven the Park. Relying on LED technologies driven by chance, BUCKYBALL’s light sequences will create exuberant, random compositions of varied speed, color, opacity, and scale. The site-specific work will remain on view daily from October 25, 2012 through February 1, 2013 in Madison Square Park.

Artist Leo Villareal states, “I am thrilled to be presenting BUCKYBALL in Madison Square Park. My new light sculpture takes the form of a Carbon 60 molecule and expands it to monumental scale. It also explores self-similarity through the use of two identical nested spheres, the outer at 20 feet in diameter and the inner at 10 feet. Lined with LED tubes, these structures are activated through sequenced light driven by custom software. This public artwork reinterprets many of the traditional elements found in the Park such as seating and historic monuments in a fresh and exciting way.”

Villareal received a BA in sculpture from Yale University in 1990, and a graduate degree from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Interactive Telecommunications Program. (Information from Madison Square Park website).