Leo Villareal, Lighting It Up

Steven Johnson talks to the creator of San Francisco’s iconic Bay Lights installation about the possibilities of algorithm art, his embrace of VR, and the new challenge of lighting the bridges of London.

Occupation: Light sculptor

Projects: “Multiverse” at the National Gallery in Washington, DC; The Bay Lights in San Francisco; soon, The Illuminated River in London.

Favorite tools: Unreal engine, Photoshop, Oculus, custom software for controlling LEDs

Workspace: Loft in Brooklyn’s Industry City.

How does a project begin for you? I mean, is there some very early stage where you’re actually sketching something out by hand?

Not really. I’ve never been much of a sketcher. It’s always been more graph paper — but mostly digital. I got pretty comfortable early on with Photoshop and that’s how I draw.

The fascinating thing about your work is that there are these two layers to it: both the physical shape of the piece but just as importantly, the algorithm that controls the patterns of the lights. How do you work out ideas for that algorithmic side?