Bruce Munro

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Bruce was born in London as the youngest of three siblings in 1959. At the age of six his parents got divorced and Bruce moved in with his mother. He ends up going to Bristol Polytechnic where he studied painting, graduating in 1982. In 1984 he moved to Australia where he would work a number of odd jobs for about a year when he would create his first business in 1985. The business created illuminated displays for businesses in the area and was sold in 1988. He would continue to work for the company that purchased his business until 1995 where he joined a paint finishing studio. He quickly separated from this job in 1996 and began working on his own projects with paint, tile, and lighting. In 1999 Bruce’s father dies, and Bruce is “beset with anxiety, fear and a loss of confidence” which, he claims, gave him “an increased sensitivity and capacity towards compassion.” In 2002, he puts his Snowball Chandelier in an exhibition in London. Soon after in 2003 Bruce creates his first big project called Field of Lights which really ignited his career in fine arts.

Techniques and Inspiration

In his past he has worked with many mediums and techniques as mentioned above. In his fine art career he centers his pieces around light. He very frequently uses fiber optics or LED’s, which he typically imbeds into another material such as glass, plastic, or water. He also uses reflections in some of his works by using CD’s. In general he works in are open spaces, filling large rooms with enchanting chandeliers or open fields with innumerable lights. He attempts to promote the idea of human connectedness with each other and with the world around us. He hopes to encourage empathy and understanding through his art.

Works

Field of Light

CD Sea

This work was created in remembrance of Bruce’s father and he says the piece was “inspired by a remembrance of feeling connected to his father in England through the sea from far-off in Australia.” This piece was created using 600,000 CD’s from around the world. They were all placed by Bruce and 140 of his friends. In an interview he says he chose CD’s because they look like “sequins”.

c scales

This project was inspired by the Sydney harbor. It uses CD’s to reflect light from projectors above making beautiful patterns and filling the space with light. The projectors project animations onto the CD’s while music is playing to create a magical atmosphere. A video of this project can be seen at the link below.

https://vimeo.com/379782703

Some Other Works

Sources

https://www.brucemunro.co.uk/

https://designwanted.com/bruce-munro-studio-interview/

https://onartandaesthetics.com/2018/09/14/experience-has-taught-me-that-when-one-consciously-looks-for-an-idea-it-never-appears-bruce-munro/

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