This Christmas light show is quite literally garbage. High-class department store Takashimaya has decided to deck out the southern terrace area surrounding their Shinjuku store with Christmas illuminations constructed entirely out of discarded PET bottles and LED lights. The results, which include a PET bottle Christmas tree, UFO and giant man, are actually quite impressive, transforming the space into a clear plastic paradise.
The theme for the exhibition, which was installed by light artist Hiroyuki Morikawa, is “ancient ruins and outer space,” hence the UFO. Though we weren't quite sure where the ruins fit in to the display, we loved the "Pet Tron" PET bottle screen, which showed passersby a pixellated otherworldly image of their faces.
Morikawa constructed part of this PET bottle world with the help of a group of children. The children assembled pet bottle stars with the artist’s guidance that were then either placed on top of lamp posts or piled up to create a splendid Christmas tree. You can see footage of this workshop towards the end of the video above.
Morikawa, a professor of Information Design at Tama Art University, is well known in Japan for his work with LED lights, such as this playful interactive installation piece constructed at MOA in April this year. The Shinjuku display will be lit up until Dec. 25.
