Port’s car-handling building gets arty

Ports of Auckland (POAL) is using the facade of its new car-handling building to show off contemporary art to the public on a large scale.

The digital light wall, which is named The Lightship, is situated on Quay Street and measures 110 metres long and 13m high.

It wraps around the western facade of the car-handling building and is made up of seven panels with nearly 8,500 individually programmable LED lights. It is visible from Quay Street, city wharves, local buildings and the water.

The car-handling building has been built as part of POAL’s 30-year master plan and is designed to reduce the space taken up by imported vehicles by stacking cars vertically. 

It has the world’s largest soil-based vertical garden on its southern wall and a public park is being designed for the roof.

The Lightship’s inaugural commission is a new artwork by Janet Lilo entitled ISLOVE. Lilo’s piece will be on show until the first week of December 2020.

Tony Gibson, chief executive of POAL, says: “The Lightship is our present to Auckland and a thank you to Auckland’s artists for enriching our lives. It is designed to support artists and creative thinkers to produce ambitious new commissions and gives them a highly visible platform on which to display their work.”

Lilo’s artwork will be followed by a programme of three emerging artists starting in early December, curated by Sarah Hopkinson and Bridget Riggir-Cuddy. 

For more details, visit www.thelightship.co.nz