Mar Canet at Glow Festival in Calgary

The spanish artist will be showcasing “Smile” at the Winter Light Festival in Calgary.

Glow Winter Light Festival in Calgary is a free, family-friendy interactive light festival in the heart of downtown. Spanish artist Mar Canet showcases her work Smile at the inaugural over the Family Day long weekend. Canet and her partner Varvara Guljajeva will be the festivals international featured artists while celebrating Canada’s 150 anniversary with this event.

The idea of light installation Smile is to make people smile. Often, especially during the dark time of the year, we forget to smile. However, a single smile can make your and also maybe someone’s else day.

How does the installation make people smile? The artwork is composed of two parts: the interaction station, which recognises smiles, and a smiley made out of light tubes. When someone smiles to the interaction station, only then the light installation lights up. The idea is to smile and the artwork will smile with you. We want to forward the idea that a simple act as smiling, can make a big change, like lighting up all the neighborhood.

Happiness starts from a smile. We tend to smile, when we are happy. Hence, a smile seems to be a consequence of being happy or feeling good. At the same time such a behaviour pattern could be reversed: why not to smile first and then maybe comes also happiness or good feeling?

—Mar Canet

The artists will also be leading a workshop for creative minds looking to learn more about LED Light programming.