Thermally Speaking

Our bodies are vessels of energy, containers of both fire and water. We’re constantly undergoing renewal and death at the cellular level as the fire of life consumes and is tempered by liquid flowing through us. ‘Thermally Speaking’ was a translation of the radiant energy of our bodies as they moved through the historic Fort York site, a rejuvenation project that employed thermography and infrared measurement instruments to uncover the fields of energy of which we’re all a part.

Audiences were invited to move through, over, and around the Fort York Visitors Centre’s ramp, both as observers and subjects of observation, participants in dialogue with the phenomena around them. Thermal imaging cameras relayed and translated the heat energy of visitors into a shifting curtain of light, animating the channel glass facades of the Centre itself.

This temporary transformation entered into a dynamic dialogue with the Visitors Centre, a singular, award-winning building designed by Patkau and Kearns Mancini Architects.

Back to Projects

Location
Toronto, ON

Client
Scotiabank Nuit Blanche Toronto

Status
Completed 2019

Project Type
Installation, Interactive, Lighting Design

Role
Lead Artist

Collaborators
Mulvey Banani Lighting
CITYLights Toronto
Layne Hinton, Rui Pimenta (Nuit Blanche curators)

Photography
Doublespace Photography

Press and Awards
Azure magazine’s 2021 AZ Awards – People’s Choice in the Design – Lighting Installations category
Toronto Urban Design Awards 2021 – Award of Merit in the Elements category
arc Lighting in Architecture – “Mulvey & Banani Lighting: Thermally Speaking,” September 2020
Arch Daily – "Thermally Speaking Installation / LeuWebb Projects + Mulvey & Banani Lighting," August 2020
Archello – “Thermally Speaking,” September 2020
Designboom – “Thermally Speaking Light Installation Changes Color According to Visitors’ Body Heat,” August 2020
Gooood – “Thermally Speaking, Canada by LeuWebb Projects with Mulvey & Banani Lighting Inc.: Translate the Heat Energy Into Lighting,” August 2020
Lightecture – “Thermally Speaking, una instalación que mide la energía de los humanos,” August 2020
STIR World – "LeuWebb Projects’ public art installations are a revelation on history and perception," March 2021