Installations 2024

This installation harnesses light, mirrors, and dichroic film to explore the themes of reflection and perception in a playful, immersive way. When presented with this year’s [djarc awards theme, our team began by reflecting on our individual experiences from the past decade. What started as a flurry of personal ideas gradually evolved through conversation- blending and growing into a shared creative expression.

We asked ourselves: how can we offer viewers the same layered, reflective experience?

The result is an abstract ’10’ formed with LED rope, designed as a 3- dimensional light sculpture. Depending on your vantage point, the installation reveals entirely different images. From the front, the ’10’ becomes an infinity mirror —its form reflected endlessly into the distance. From the east and west, the dichroic film casts a spectrum of colours that shift with every degree of movement, creating a dynamic, ever-changing visual.

And everything in between is up to the viewer to discover. Whether jumping, crouching, circling around, peering in from above, or layering reflections with the film, every interaction reveals something new.

In the end, each person walks away with their own version of the experience-shaped by both physical perspective and personal reflection.

Image: Gavriil Papadiotis (www.gavriilux.com)

Imagine a future where natural and electric light exist in harmony, where technology learns from nature rather than overpowering it. A future where bioluminescence guides us, and electricity is used with care, enhancing rather than harming the world around us. To move forward, we must first do less harm. Then, no harm. Add zero. Then redefine our symbiotic relationship with nature.

In this space, we explore the mesmerizing power of bioluminescence, light that lives, breathes, and responds. Through magnitudes of ten, we journey deeper, zooming into the interplay of natural and artificial light, sensing its impact not just on our surroundings but on ourselves.

Step into the pod….
Lift and shake the bottle, watch as the bioluminescence dims. Put the bottle down to let the algae rest and witness the digital magnification.
We invite you to pause, to feel, to reflect. May this experience spark curiosity, inspire change, and remind us that nature already holds the answers, we only need to learn how to listen.

Image: Gavriil Papadiotis (www.gavriilux.com)

PENDULA is an installation centred around reflections, both physically and mentally. As 10 years of DARC Awards have passed, it feels an appropriate time to reflect on what has happened around lighting. An oversized pendulum makes those who interact with it very conscious of the time passing, and hopefully in turn, of the time that has passed. In an increasingly digital time, the installation aims to explore the coalescence of digital and mechanical elements to visualise motion, where digital approaches are often favoured. Manufacturing waste included in the installation aims to highlight our impact on the environment, not just through the luminaires themselves, but everything that facilitates their purpose.

In a hectic, loud and fast-moving world, a time to pause and reflect can often be a luxury. A time to pause, to breathe, to be.

Image: Gavriil Papadiotis (www.gavriilux.com)

Light is often viewed as a symbol of clarity, knowledge, and truth, transcending physical boundaries to illuminate the world around us. It is a force that reveals hidden realities, making the unseen visible, and provides the strength to overcome darkness, both literally and metaphorically.

The strength of light can be understood in terms of its intensity and its ability to penetrate even the densest of obstacles. In many contexts, light represents power—its presence signifies life, energy, and growth. The symbol of “X” is frequently associated with the crossing of paths or the intersection of possibilities, often representing a point of convergence or transformation. When paired with the number “10,” which denotes completeness, wholeness, and a culmination of a cycle, “X” can signify a moment of profound change or realization.

Together, the idea of light and the significance of “X” and “10” evokes a powerful message of enlightenment, discovery, and the potential for transcendence, where strength, knowledge, and transformation converge in a single, radiant moment.

Image: Gavriil Papadiotis (www.gavriilux.com)

Step into the mesmerising world of [djecastrike, an innovative lighting art installation that reimagines the classic game of ten-pin bowling. This installation invites viewers to reflect on the intersection of art and technology, and how traditional games can be transformed into modern, interactive experiences. The suspended pins, crafted with precision using 3D printing technology, are illuminated by a flexible lighting system that enhances their form. The infinity mirror adds a surreal dimension, making viewers feel as though they are peering into an endless corridor of light and motion.

[djecastrike is not just an art installation; it’s an immersive experience that blends technology and creativity.

Image: Gavriil Papadiotis (www.gavriilux.com)

X-Puzzleis an immersive lighting installation designed for the Darc Awards 2025 in London, inspired by the theme of “10” (X in Roman numerals). The design deconstructsand rebuildsthe number X, transforming it into a dynamic composition of intersecting lines and patterns that shift with movement and light.

Using mirror surfaces, dichroic filters, and foamboard, the installation creates an interactive experiencewhere reflections, colours, and shadowscontinuously evolve. Visitors are invited to explore the space from different angles, engaging with the layered optical effects. Carefully integrated luminaires enhance this play of light, reinforcing the concept of transformation and reconstruction.

Designed with sustainability in mind, all materials are sourced from Foster + Partners’ Modelshop recycling stock, ensuring a responsible and minimal-waste approach to its construction and dismantling

Image: Gavriil Papadiotis (www.gavriilux.com)

‘Piece of Cake’ is a stylised birthday cake complete with ten candles, which are internally illuminated by a radiant water effect luminaire, in carefully selected hues, to mimic candle flicker. Whilst continuously looping through a pre-set scene, the installation hides a surprise sequence that is trigged only by a guest blowing into the retro style microphone in front of the installation, to temporary extinguish the candle lights and activate a special interim scene.

Image: Gavriil Papadiotis (www.gavriilux.com)

Moved by how much our world has changed in the ten years since the first [d]arc awards, we aimed to create an installation that would explore the historical events of the last decade.

Inspired by the Bayeux tapestry, where medieval historical events were visually retold using textiles, we opted to tell modern stories using a modern medium: Neon (the tenth element in the periodic table).

Neon signage has contrasting connotations, to some it induces feelings of joy, vibrance and nightlife, whereas to others it relays themes of salaciousness, grunge and commercialism.

This dichotomy reflects the strong contrasting emotions intrinsic to the subject matter. The subjects explored in the installation are likely to make visitors feel pride, joy and relief, as well as sadness, loss, or fear.

Overall, ‘Ten Years in Neon’ is a highly emotive installation. At first glance, we expect visitors to see it as a fun, vibrant, surface-level piece of pop-art, but on closer reflection it is revealed to explore the deeper, complex and conflicting feelings that are increasingly intrinsic to modern life.

Image: Gavriil Papadiotis (www.gavriilux.com)

‘The Choice’ Conceived by Buro Happold in collaboration with Unibox to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the [djarc awards. The installation, based around the concept of 10 as binary, is enclosed within a cube, purposefully designed to reflect the growing tension between human reliance on technology for even the simplest choices.

Anchored in binary code, the language at the core of our digital era, the installation reflects the infinite possibilities held within the digits 1 and 0, directly reflecting the thematic significance of the integer 10. The installation draws on the tension of choice and duality to invite a sensory-led exploration through rhythmic patterns and abstract form, opening a portal into the shifting dynamic between
humanity and artificial intelligence.

As we continue to live in a world where artificial intelligence quietly scripts the parameters of our reality, this luminous intervention reminds us that the future is not imposed. It asks what it means to choose freely in a world increasingly guided by algorithms. Can you reclaim autonomy and free will, or continue to move through a world written by the silent sentient technological presence coding your reality?

Image: Gavriil Papadiotis (www.gavriilux.com)