San Francisco launches new laser art installation, lighting up the sky over Civic Center
The skies above San Francisco lit up with a laser light display Sunday night as the city launched a new art installation at Civic Center Plaza.
The display is called "7 x 7," with 49 beams of light representing each square mile of San Francisco.
Artist Ben Davis, founder of the nonprofit Illuminate, said the project came together in less than 40 days.
"We're trying to remind everyone that San Francisco is cool," Davis said. "I think it's San Francisco's destiny to inspire the world right now."
The installation opened in rainbow colors and will change color schemes over the next 14 nights. Davis said fog will play a major role in how the lights appear.
"On a clear night, the beams go way, way up," Davis said. "But they are thinner and harder to read. On a foggy night, they're closer to the ground, but they're incredibly dynamic."
A large crowd gathered in front of City Hall for the countdown and cheered as the lights turned on.
The laser systems sit about 10 feet above the ground on a truss, allowing people to walk beneath the installation and look straight up through the canopy of light.
"It makes it magical because it changes it," San Francisco resident Ditka Reiner said. "It's like a kid in a candy store. It's wonderful."
The beams will be visible across the city and around the Bay.
"It's beautiful. I like the colors," San Francisco resident Miki St. John said.
"7 x 7" will run nightly through July 4 and eventually change to red, white and blue to honor America's 250th anniversary, San Francisco's birthday, and World Cup matches in the Bay Area.
Davis said he hopes the installation gives people a reason to look up together.
"Lift your chin a few degrees," Davis said. "Watch what happens to your heart, your breath and your imagination."
Illuminate is also preparing another laser display called "Welcome SF," a rainbow laser flag that will stretch more than four miles along Market Street, from the Embarcadero to Twin Peaks.
That display is scheduled for Friday.
