Bruce Munro’s Sonoran Light at the Desert Botanical Gardens was on exhibition from November 20, 2015 to May 8, 2016. Munro is a British artist known for his large-scale light installations that are typically influenced by the landscape in which they are hosted. In this particular solo show, there were eight pieces, two of which were directly inspired by and created for the Desert Botanical Gardens: Temperate Zone and Saguaro. His Desert Botanical Gardens show was part of a larger visit with installations and art shows throughout the greater Scottsdale area called Desert Radiance.
Photo by Sydney Lines.
The installations are of various size and scale, and they are scattered across the gardens. They are most impressive at night, when the sky is dark and the desert shadows are filled with the luminous artworks, some of which slowly shift in color and intensity. It is only on closer inspection do you realize that some of the works (Water Towers and Beacon) are made up of old, plastic water bottles with fiber optic lights inside of them. What most unified the works is their seeming organic qualities, whether inspired by the environment or from the structures of the human body. Munro’s Field of Light and Eden Blooms resemble this quality magnificently. Field of Light is a series of ethereal light installations that snake across the desert floor like webbing, or like a neural network of the human brain. Others have felt the same way about its brain-like qualities. It could truly be both. Eden Blooms are certainly bloom-like, resembling a dandelion puff, or alternatively a human nerve fiber.
While visiting Temperate Zone, a bit of a walk from the rest of the installations, I heard many people express disappointment. One man said, “This is it? It’s a bit underwhelming for the walk and when you’ve got that impressive stuff (Field of Light) up on the hillside.” I was a little annoyed by these comments because it revealed an ignorance in its viewers. Temperate Zone is placed in an area of the garden that explains the plants, animals, and dwellings used by the indigenous peoples who originally lived in the area. The installation is placed in 16 ceramic pots styled similarly to the ones used by the natives, and the blue light echoes the ingenious way they used the pots as cooling chambers. Munro cleverly makes the pots appear to be full of ice and have the effect of seeming very cold. It’s a piece in conversation with its environs, and the concept was lost on patrons.
All in all, the show was spectacular. The Water-Towers were a popular hit and as such were a little more difficult to enjoy with people congregating at all ends and children running through the maze-like pathways between the structures. However, it was a lovely way to experience the gardens in a cool spring evening and an exciting way to illuminate the desert landscape, its history, and its possibilities.
