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Ayrton supports celebration of the life and work of lighting designer Mikki Kunttu

A cluster of events celebrated the 30-year career and 50th birthday of Finnish lighting designer Mikki Kunttu last autumn. Finland’s Tampere Hall hosted “Lucid Dreams”, a photographic exhibition of Kunttu’s work, “Light & Shadow”, an international lighting seminar that included contributions from LeRoy Bennett, Christopher Bauder, Benjamin Dupont, Ralph Jörg Wezorke and Ola Melzig, a performance by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” suite lit by Kunttu, and “A Night of Light” international gala concert lit by one of Finland’s talented young lighting designers, Alex Hautamäki.

The germ of the idea came from Tampere Hall’s managing director Paulina Ahokas, who has worked with Kunttu extensively. The result was a collaboration with many artists with whom Kunttu has worked throughout his career, with Kunttu himself lighting the seven-part masterpiece “The Planets” in cooperation with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kunttu chose to design, program and operate the lighting and video for “The Planets” to give it an artisanal, back-to-roots feel. Centred around a circular video screen above the orchestra, the design featured over 100 Ayrton fixtures, including 26 Ayrton Cobra laser-sourced fixtures.

Kunttu used the moments between the Planets movements - when a series of NASA space recordings were played - to create stronger, dramatic beam effects, toning them down when the orchestra was playing to avoid deflecting the attention away from the music and the performers.

Kunttu used Ayrton Cobras mostly as back lights, along with twenty Ayrton Huracán LT (long throw) fixtures. Forty-one Ayrton Eurus S profile units were rigged on three overhead trusses as top and front lights, with additional Eurus S profiles on the side ladders for cross light. More Huracán LT fixtures were added as floor specials behind the orchestra.

Kunttu had one day to program “The Planets” and one over-night turnaround for the Gala concert the next day. “Alex (Hautamäki) used even more Cobra than I did for the Gala”, he says.

(Photos: Ralph Larmann)

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