The Bayou Beacon

• Fri, Apr 23, 2021 - Sun, Apr 25, 2021  

The Bayou Beacon is an environmental light sculpture designed by Falon Land Studio, a Houston-based interdisciplinary practice in public art and landscape architecture. The Beacon expresses the water fluctuations of White Oak Bayou as it monitors historic water quality data then projects a dynamic, parametrically-designed light animation onto suspended semi-transparent fabric panels. 

Art lovers, bayou lovers, nature lovers, digital art lovers, and anyone curious about the bayous’ water flow are encouraged to come and view the Bayou Beacon. Sited in the Sawyer Yards Train Shed, the Bayou Beacon takes advantage of a unique open air space in Houston’s Arts District. 

To experience the piece, visitors can meander through, sit in provided chairs, or lie down on padded mats to watch a projected visualization of a few of Houston’s recent record-shattering floods. The animation pulls from White Oak Bayou’s stream gage data, then renders swarms of water droplets that express the cubic feet per second of water flowing past a single point in the Bayou Beacon. A portion of the animation specific to Harvey’s influx shows dramatic jumps in the size of water droplets as if they are pulsing towards you. This movement represents the massive spikes in water flow Houstonians experienced over three days as the rains from Harvey flowed through the bayous.

Falon Land Studio is an interdisciplinary practice in public art and landscape architecture. We work across urban design, landscape design, outdoor sculpture and new media with a focus on enriching the public realm and connecting people with local ecology.

The event is open to the public with COVID-19 precautions in place.

The Bayou Beacon is supported in part by the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.