Noor Riyadh 2024: Saudi Arabia

From November 28th to December 14th, Chris Levine had the honor of unveiling two new light-based works at the fourth edition of Noor Riyadh, the world’s largest light art festival. For three weeks, Noor transformed the city of Riyadh into a vibrant celebration of light, art, and creativity.

Aligned with that edition’s theme, Light Years Away, Chris elevated his creative vision to an all-time high with a city-scale installation on top of the Norman Foster-designed Al Faisaliah Tower. Higher Power featured four powerful beams reaching a 10-kilometre radius in the direction of all four compass points, intermittently pulsating the word peace in Morse code. The piece was accompanied by a soundscape made with long-time collaborator Marco Perry. Live streamed from the Noor website, the installation became a total sensory experience. As the coloured beams arced over the city, they served as a reminder of light’s power to inspire peace, hope, and positive change.

In the Wadi Hanifa valley, Chris’s piece Light is Love used his signature blipvert technique to project the word love in both English and Arabic. This newly commissioned iteration, based on his ongoing series of the same name, continued his experimentation with persistence of vision - an optical illusion where the human eye briefly retains an image after it disappears. Combined with laser waveforms and Solfeggio sound elements, this sensory work arched over the valley, evoking awe and wonder while offering a peaceful refuge from the noise of modern life.