INTERVIEW STUART WILLIAMS Feb. 07, 2011 Interview ANNA NOSTHOFF BERLIN
In 1993, the internet was still a technological innovation. The real potential of the web would not be seen for about a
decade. Our emotional connection to an increasingly technologically dominated life, would not be addressed by most
artists until years later. This makes the Luminous Earth Grid, by American artist Stuart Williams, all the more remarkable, for it was in 1993 that he created this project. He began planning the project in 1988, and five years later he created a
fluorescent light grid that fits in surprisingly well on a sweeping site of rolling hills in Northern California… a setting that
would strike most as an incompatible and alien locale for such a technology-focused work of art. Almost ironic, is the fact that it has taken nearly 20 years for many to take notice of Williams’ installation via the internet. Not only did it take
Williams five years of motivated dedication to raise nearly $500,000 for the project, but it also required 400 skilled hands to complete the installed array of nearly 2,000 lamps.
Close to 25 permits were required from various state and governmental agencies, and the successful navigation of those many hurdles required the significant rhetorical talents of the artist. With all these formidable challenges that he faced, there is good reason to dig a little deeper to understand how he was able to reach success. (please go to next page.)
“Luminous Earth Grid,” ©Stuart Williams, swept over an area equal to 8 football fields. 1,680 energy-efficient T-8 fluorrescent lamps required 19 kilometers of electrical cable. A 6 ton extension cable ran a quarter of a mile down the hillside to link the grid to existing power lines.