Towering to a height of 4 meters, Mountain of Light is a monolithic installation, brought to life by a dramatic repertoire of lighting effects that begin with subtle changes in colour and culminate in a simulated eruption of shooting flames and molten lava.

The installation is constructed from a series of modular extruded columns that are assembled into the abstract shape of a volcanic mountain. The mountain is designed to be viewed and approached from all sides, offering a full 360-degree experience.

Each column is packed with computerised graphics that can be controlled by visitors to create effects of superb accuracy and realism. The entire mountain is controllable, so participants can direct colour patterns to run from one side, across, around, down and up the mountain. Surround sound installed within the structure adds drama to the atmosphere.

Artist: Angus Muir

Collaborators: Hamish Steptoe / Jarrod Barrow

All photos by Bas Van Est http://www.basvanest.com/

Commission. Designed by Rowan Simpson and Angus Muir Design.

AMD were invited to show at 'List í ljósi' - a lighting festival in Seydisfjordur, Iceland.

Photos include our initial set up at Point Chevalier, and at the Iceland event.

Field is the award winning installation that was one of five major projects in the 2013  Sydney Art and About Festival.  The installation sits in Sydney’s iconic Hyde park.

Field was designed by former studio Out of the Dark with Alexandra Heaney.

The design comprises of 81 mirror posts, 2.4m tall, set out over a 25 square meter space. The design aims to showcase and celebrate Hyde Park.

By day the intense grid of mirrors celebrates its environment, creating an analogue interaction with the public. By night a series of the posts will illuminate extending the installation’s activation of Hyde Park into the evening in a unique manner.

FIELD was installed for the entire duration of the Art and About program.

http://www.artandabout.com.au/festival-program/field/

Out of the Dark one gold award at the New Zealand Design Awards in 2014 for this project

Angus Muir Design and Perceptual Engineering were engaged by Special Group to create an interactive installation for Auckland Art Gallery.

Bronze winner of the Best Awards 2015.

Photo credit: Special Group

The ‘orbs’ series is a lighting installation by Angus Muir Design and Alexandra Heaney(formerly Out of the Dark) that has been exhibited in a series of historic locations over the past three years.

‘Orbs’ is an installation in which the LED lit orbs are suspended within a specific site. The orbs are extremely energy efficient, with the entire installation drawing less than two hundred and fifty watts.

The ‘orbs’ were designed to celebrate and emphasize the site in which they are installed.

They have been installed in; a 100 year old Pohutakawa tree, a historic laneway, old cement silos, a national park, a historic old power station and public park.

Osmose is a multi-sensory artwork that visitors experience by lying down under coloured shards of light.

The changing colours of the shards evoke feelings of calmness and stillness or energy in the viewer. As they lie underneath the shards and let the light wash over them, participants also experience sounds tuned to the frequency of the colour that appears above.

The artist’s objective is to raise question regarding the power of colour in our lives: to explore the direct and personal effect it can have on our bodies and minds.

While perceptions of colour are somewhat subjective, there are some effects that seem to have universal meaning. Warmer colours on the spectrum are widely thought to evoke emotions ranging from feelings of comfort to feelings of anger and hostility.

Colors on the cool side of the spectrum, such as blue, purple and green are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.

Osmose also gives participants the opportunity to regard the world from a different perspective. They view the Sydney Opera House lying down; people's faces are replaced by their shoes; their close circle of friends will suddenly expand to include others sharing the underspace of the installation.

It fosters the unique feeling of being inside an intimate space within a crowded and busy environment. It also functions as a point, during Vivid Sydney, where people can plan to meet, return, relax and find serenity.

Artist: Hamish Steptoe

Collaborators: Angus Muir / Jarrod Barrow / Fryderyk Kublikowski

All photos by Bas Van Est http://www.basvanest.com/

Field Apart is the continuation of a series by Angus Muir Design and Alexandra Heaney. This year it was part of Headland Sculpture on the Gulf on Waiheke Island.

Field Apart is a mesmerising artwork that brings the surreal into a natural environment in a unique and approachable way.

Nestled out on the headland itself, Field Apart was located in a spectacular location. Reflecting the grass and landscape when viewed from above, and mirroring the sea and sky when viewed from below. It blended perfectly into it's grassy environs. 

All photos by Bas Van Est http://www.basvanest.com/

Digital Wattle is a dynamic reactive light sculpture commissioned by Destination NSW for Vivid Sydney Lights On! 2012 . It was designed along with Alexandra Heaney by Out of the Dark.

In its pure aesthetic appearance, Digital Wattle is a contemporary deconstruction of Australia’s iconic Wattle flower. Three hundred glowing orbs of coloured light sit upon sleek fibreglass extrusions, which disappear into a custom-cut polished steel base. Hundreds of shades of yellow sway gently in the breeze as an understated sound-scape emerges from within the structure.

A myriad of colour explodes from the glowing orbs, forming connections between participants, highlighting individuality whilst simultaneously conjuring cooperation. The Wattle structure disappears into the night, leaving participants to exchange purely with this flouting cloud of luminescence, pulsating and glowing to their movement and communication.

For this project Angus Muir Design (formerly part of Out of the Dark) was awarded a Bronze Pin at the Design Institute of New Zealand Best Design Awards 2012.

It has recently been exhibited at Wellington’s 2013 LUX Festival, Auckland’s 2013 Matariki Festival, Singapore's iLIGHT Festival 2014 and at Beijing's deLIGHT Festival 2014.

Created for Beijing's 2015 DeLights Festival.

Sculpture designed by Angus Muir Design and AJDC.

Synaptic Lux is an interactive lighting canopy that was deployed for a recent lighting festival in Auckland, New Zealand. It was designed by Angus Muir and Alexandra Heaney (both formerly of Out of the Dark)

The installation is a contemporary deconstruction of a new-media social schema, based around the processes surrounding a digital manifestation of thought and introspection.

Synapses in the brain control the passing of electrical signals between cells; in this sense, Synaptic Lux represents the digital exhibition of our own social activity. The audience interacts in a playful and flirtatious manner with sensory systems that reactivate the affects of their movement. The canopy of lights constructs an interior and immersive condition intensified by the live feed.

Synaptic Lux won the Philips Lighting Design Competition at the event.