SOLAR

Skip-The-Line Tickets are now available for purchase for $25! Skip-the-Line ticket-holders may arrive anytime between 7:30pm - 10:30pm. Regular admission can be purchased onsite at entry, on a pay-what-you-choose basis (either $10, $15, or $20). All price points give access to the same seating areas.

As the sun sets on our Sun/Shade exhibition, The Bentway presents SOLAR, a new large-scale light installation by Italian artist Quayola and commissioned in partnership with Videocittà, Rome’s celebrated festival of video and digital culture.

As long summer nights give way to early fall dusk, SOLAR takes inspiration from the optical phenomena of twilight – including crepuscular rays and chromatic gradients - recreating the fleeting beauty of the moments when night and day converge. The work is guided by a robotic arm, sweeping slowly across the night sky, guiding hundreds of synchronized beams in a mesmerizing dance of light and shadow. Translating the sun’s daily path from rise to set into a series of artist-created algorithmic gestures and glowing orbits, the piece merges the sun’s cycles with digital choreography to support a new living atmosphere: immersive and ever-changing.

Presented as a simulated sunset unfolding in real time, SOLAR offers an alternate way of experiencing the city - slowed down, bathed in colour, and suspended between nature and technology. Presented beneath the Gardiner Expressway, where shade is constant, this radiant new work reminds us of the sun’s power, how light shapes our sense of time and place, and that every shadow has its source.

How to attend:

• Skip-The-Line Tickets are now available for purchase for $25! Skip-the-Line ticket-holders may arrive anytime between 7:30pm - 10:30pm. Regular admission can be purchased onsite at entry, on a pay-what-you-choose basis (either $10, $15, or $20). All price points give access to the same seating areas.
• All performances are open to guests to wander and choose the location of their experience. You are welcome to bring blankets or cushions for sitting on grassy areas.
• This experience will run every 30 minutes beginning at 7:30pm, and guests are welcome to stay as long as they wish. To help ensure that all audiences can enjoy the experience, we recommend a maximum stay of 90 minutes.

What to expect:

• The experience lasts approximately 15 minutes in length, and features bright, moving lights, haze, and an immersive audio soundtrack.
• This event will be taking place at The Bentway’s Strachan Gate site. You are invited to watch the experience from multiple vantage points within the site, and once you enter you are welcome to stay for as long as you like.
• The terrain is a mix of concrete, large-stone gravel, and grass. We recommend comfortable footwear and dressing accordingly.
• Food and beverage will be available for purchase.
• Universal and all-gender washrooms available on site.
• The event is all-ages; photo ID is required to purchase alcohol.

Host or Publisher The Bentway