Few works of contemporary art have rewritten a landscape quite like Bruce Munro’s Field of Light. Fifty thousand slender, solar-powered stems blooming across the desert floor at the foot of Uluṟu, shifting through soft tides of colour as the sun drops behind the rock, it has become as synonymous with the Red Centre as the monolith itself. This year, the installation marks ten remarkable years in the desert, with its run now extended to at least 2029 and more than 750,000 visitors having walked, often in hushed silence, through its glow.
British artist Bruce Munro is best known for producing large-scale immersive light-based installations, with language, literature, science, and music greatly influencing his work. An artistic diarist, he has spent over 50 years collecting and recording ideas and images in his sketchbooks, which he returns to as source material. Bruce’s work has been shown at Museums and Botanical Gardens internationally, notably, Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, The Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Waddesdon Manor for the Rothschild Collection, Buckinghamshire; Beyond Limits 2016 for Sotheby’s at Chatsworth House; Messums, Wiltshire and the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Melbourne.
Read on to discover more.
Take us back to that night in 1992 when you first camped near Uluṟu. What was it about that specific moment in the desert that planted the seed for Field of Light, and did you have any inkling then that it would become your life’s most iconic work?
There was no Eureka moment; more like a feeling that I was part of something much bigger than myself. I felt joyful and a great sense of being alive. Scribbling thoughts and feelings into my sketch book was something I did, so I had no sense of how this experience would shape my future life
You famously sketched the original idea in a notebook and then sat on it for over a decade before bringing it to life. What finally made you feel ready to realise it?
I didn’t exactly sit on the idea. As soon as I returned to the UK, I began thinking about how I might create an art installation to describe my experience, but it took a while to develop as I had no points of reference for how or where to start; also more worryingly, no regular income or home! I had to be realistic and accept that this was going to be a “long-term “ project. I am a bit of a terrier once I get an idea in my head …I hold on!
You’ve described yourself as someone who works with light the way a painter works with pigment. Why did you choose this as your preferred medium of expression?
I came across light in a formal sense by chance when I moved to Sydney in 1984. I saw a display of UV light-activated fluorescent materials in a shop window, which literally stopped me in my tracks. I passed it on my way to catch a Ferry from Circular Quay to Balmain, where I was doing a stint as an illustrator for a TV /film set builder. My interest in using light as a medium of expression progressively developed from that encounter.
Solar-powered stems, fibre optics, acrylic, the technology behind Field of Light is surprisingly delicate. How much of your practice is artistic vision versus engineering problem-solving?
I have always been mindful that having an idea is only part of the solution. Bringing an artwork to fruition is essential if one is serious about the idea. My dear old mum advised all her children (especially me) “ don’t be a talker, be a doer”!
750,000 visitors, ten years, 50,000 stems of light across seven football fields. When you walk through it now, does it still feel like your work?
Truthfully, nobody is entirely responsible for the work they create. If one considers the reality of life, everything is connected, and reality is actually a dance of atoms. However, I do feel connected with the FOL every time I visit Uluru. It’s like visiting an old friend or younger me.
Field of Light has since travelled to California, New York, Pennsylvania, Western Australia and the UK, but Uluṟu remains the original and longest-running. What does each new landscape bring out of the work that the others can’t?
Art changes one’s perception of a place as much as a place changes one’s perception of the art. Every iteration tends to have its own feel, and one can’t predict how this will be; so all new installations are an adventure with new surprises to be discovered.
The installation sits gently on Aṉangu Country. How has your relationship with the Traditional Owners shaped the way the work has evolved over the decade?
From the very start it was important for me to convey that the FOL was simply an expression of joy and connection inspired by visiting Uluru with Serena all those years ago. It is definitely not a pastiche or western interpretation of Indigenous art or culture. The installation would never have proceeded without the Anangu’s blessing, and I was honoured that they gave it a name in their language which translates to “looking at many beautiful lights”
For luxury travellers planning to visit, the experience is as much about where you stay as what you see. Where do you personally lay your head when you’re at the Resort?
In 1984, we camped. It was December (and very hot); the ground radiated the heat of the day back into the sky …it felt like sleeping on a radiator! More recently, we have been very lucky to stay at Sails in the Desert, but there are a variety of places to stay; 131 being the luxury end of the spectrum. Wherever you stay, it’s the place that creates the unique memories.
Longitude 131° is regularly named one of the world’s great luxury lodges, with its tented pavilions facing directly out to Uluṟu. For our readers debating where to base themselves, what’s your take on experiencing Field of Light from that level of seclusion versus the buzz of the main Resort?
In truth, like many others, I would love to experience 131 because I hear it is amazing. However, I do love Yulara as a village; there’s a definite buzz of seeing/experiencing visitors from all over the world coming and going. I love the fact that the place comes alive when the sun sets and rises.
The new Field of Light Dinner menu has been unveiled using native ingredients from First Nations-owned Creative Native Foods, Coastal Rosemary Lamb, Smoked Kangaroo Blini, and Wattleseed Falafel. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
I was lucky enough to taste the new menu at the 10th anniversary celebrations. Experiencing native foods in such an iconic location can only enhance an appreciation of a place … Simply said it was delicious!
So much of luxury travel today is about meaningful experiences rather than just thread counts. Field of Light, Wintjiri Wiru, Sunrise Journeys, the new native-ingredient menu, Ayers Rock Resort has become a case study in that shift. Do you feel your work helped catalyse this?
In a small way, I hope we have been part of that influence to make travel experiences more meaningful. Places create feelings and feelings are fingerprints of time.
The extension to at least 2029 takes Field of Light well beyond anything you originally imagined. Do you see a natural endpoint for the work at Uluṟu?, Or could it become permanent?
The FOL will stay until it is no longer deemed relevant to the place it inhabits. I am truly honoured that it lasted more than a year
What do you hope the next generation of visitors will take away from the experience that perhaps the early visitors didn’t?
I hope future visitors take away the same feelings that Serena and I experienced in 1992. We all need some joy in our hearts, especially at this present time.
Luxury is so subjective. What does luxury mean to you, Bruce?
Luxury is when I wake up and appreciate how lucky I am to be alive!
A question we love to end with: What is your life motto? If you have one.
Something that has travelled with me all my life. When I learnt it as a child, I did not pay much heed, but the older I get, the more it makes sense. The motto “Garde Ta Foy” (Keep Your Faith) of Felsted School encourages students and staff to reflect on their values and beliefs. This motto emphasises the importance of strong personal foundations, integrity, and resilience, guiding individuals to approach life with grace and treat others with respect and kindness.
Image credits Bill Blair
