While visiting Québec, Canada, I saw this fantastic installation in Montmorency Park: a field of fiber optic flowers. This project was done to honor the 150th anniversary of the Québec Convention. The field was comprised of over 15,000 flowers which gradually changed color over time. The slight variations of the timing and color of each flower made this installation even more fascinating to watch.
The construction of the flowers was relatively simple. Each flower was composed of a fiber optic cable running through some clear plastic tubing with a translucent plastic bulb on top.
The real magic came from the illuminated cable inside of the flowers. The fiber optic cable gave each blub a pleasant glow while the glowing cable running through the clear tubing created the subtle illusion of a stem.
It was possible to trace the fiber optic cables back to the light sources. As the sources were covered, it was hard to tell exactly what was powering them. The sources were running some sort of synchronized lighting program so that the large garden would simultaneously change color.
Although each flower was all slightly different, they all came together to make one beautiful glowing blanket covering the entire park. This has definitely inspired me to try to make some of my own fiber optic works of art.
