The Memory and Light installation in the gilded Norfolk House Music Room, curved acrylic screens ringing a circular platform with headphones on it

V&A Museum, Memory and Light

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Arvo Pärt X Arup: Memory & Light

The project, inspired by composer Arvo Pärt and designed by Arup, featured a bench with a curved transparent screen illuminated by ENTTEC's LED products, including CV and pixel tape. This setup created a serene light display that complemented Pärt’s music, representing the full color spectrum

ENTTEC were pleased to be part of the ‘Memory and Light’ installation for the London Design Festival at the V&A Museum in London. Presented by Harman Kardon, and curated by Clare Farrow, the installation was a blend of music by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and innovative design by Arup designers Stephen Philips (product design), Ned Crowe (acoustic design) and Ed Elbourne (venue design).

The project was inspired by the words of the composer: “I could compare my music to white light, which contains all colours. Only a prism can divide the colours and make them appear; this prism could be the spirit of the listener.”

The location for the project was the stunning 18th century Norfolk House Music Room in the V&A Museum, London. The project featured a viewing and listening bench, with a transparent screen curved around one end. The screen was designed to envelop the visitor in Pärt’s music and featured vertical slats of Perspex® acrylic (from the Vario collection) which were lit up by 5 colours specifically chosen by Arup to represent the full colour spectrum.

ENTTEC CV and pixel tape was positioned in the base of the screen, providing an up-light which was projected through the Perspex® acrylic transparent slats. The colours changed in a subtle manner, which the designers felt reflected the stillness and silence in Arvo Pärt’s music.

Solution

Controls

Powered by CVC4 and DIN PIXIE

Lights

Lit up by ENTTEC 9CL-10 Pixel Tape and 8PX60-4 RGBW 5V Pixel Tape

Diagram of the two feeds, a CVC4 driving warm white LED tape and a DIN Pixie driving RGBW pixel tape

As Curator of “Memory & Design”, I am immensely grateful to ENTTEC for their support in providing the lighting products, enabling us to bring to life the words and music of Arvo Pärt through the innovative designs of Arup, for this special LDF commission at the V&A.

Clare FarrowCurator of Memory & Light

Result

  • The Norfolk House Music Room lengthwise, a curved tan bench in the centre and the lit screen wrapped around its far end
  • The same room straight on, the screen curving around the end of the bench with two sets of headphones waiting on it
  • A couple sitting on the bench beside the screen, gilded chimneypiece and mirror filling the wall behind them
  • Across the room through the lit screen, a speaker tower each side and visitors seated on the bench beyond
  • Looking up through the acrylic slats to the white and gold plasterwork ceiling, coloured lines catching in the edges
  • Close on the glowing base of the screen, coloured lines rising through the slat edges above the dark wooden floor
  • The curved lit base following the edge of the bench, a pair of headphones and their cable resting on top
  • Two visitors with backpacks seated in headphones, seen through the screen looking towards the gilded fireplace
  • Hands trimming a length of warm white LED tape on a workbench, scissors and the cut end alongside

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