The Field of Light at Sensorio

While it is easy to become entranced with the experience and let the lights wash over you, there is another aspect. Someone spent the time to survey the valley, convey the imagined idea to detailed blueprints, set up the 250 or so solar generators, plant each bulb, hook up the fiber optic lines, plan the sequence of light shifts, and program each grouping of bulbs. This is creative vision engineering and technical project management in extreme.

The lights cover about 15 acres of following a small valley gently working its way through rolling hills to the southwest.  There are a little over 58,800 fiber optic light stalks tied at the rate of 250 bulbs per solar array (about 250 solar arrays) .  The alien looking stalk/bulbs are about three feet tall and the colors effortlessly flow in about a one-minute cycle from white to reds to oranges to greens and purples and blues.

We booked our tickets about a month in advance after reading an article in the Sunday Ventura Star newspaper.  We arrived early, about an hour before the scheduled opening and already the parking lot was filling up.  About 15 minutes before the gates were to open, we started up the trail over a small rise toward the entrance.  There were already about 75 people in line.

Fifteen minutes before sunset the trail took us through the entrance tent and security, past the concession booths and down to the upper end of the valley and the start of the display.

The Field of Light at Sensorio is the creation of internationally-acclaimed artist Bruce Munro.  A native of the United Kingdom Munro is known for developing and installing large-scale light-based designs.  According to Munro the creative process starts by searching the physical and emotional impulses which surround him every day and then transforming these stimuli into a physical experience.  In the instance of Sensorio this is a field of shifting hues of color light.

The trails are wide, level widthwise, and safe for wheelchair traffic, although some sections can be difficult to traverse  after full dark.

The initial trail follows the northern hillside working its way through the upper edge of the light field.  It is about one half mile to the lower end of the valley.  Crossing the end of the display, the trail starts back up the southern slope reaching the top of the hillside about halfway up the exhibit.  At this point you have moved from being part of the light display to looking down on the display in the valley and on the northern hillside. 

There are two entry time choices.  Our time, the first entry, was at 4:30 PM, about 15 minutes before the sunset.  This gave us time to see the general layout of the exhibit and to walk partway across the northern hillside and watch as the sunset on the horizon.  Slowly the display came to life around us, giving us the feeling we were an integral part of the experience.

The other entry time is 7:00 PM, long past dark.  This entry gives a breath-taking impact as you pass through the concession area entering the mouth of the valley.   The downside is not to see the structure of the lights and watching them change from a faint glow in the early dusk to the vibrant spectacle we see as darkness descends.

About half way along the northern trail there is another trail which cuts down through the valley to the southern hillside trail before it begins its climb to the top of the display.  Taken after full dark his trail leads you through the heart of the display.  For about 50 yards you are completely surrounded and immersed in the gentle glow of the shifting lights.  Everywhere you look there is color, everchanging, slowly fluctuating.  For a brief instant you are dropped into an alien landscape unlike anything you have ever experienced and the beauty.  The art of it all takes on a whole new meaning.

The pathways are generously lined with benches at strategic points and we are encouraged to stop and sit and simply take in the show.  There are also docents stationed at various points with all the answers to such questions as how many lights, how are the lights powered, or  how long are the trails.

 Book ahead through the on-line website at https://www.sensoriopaso.com/ .  There are a limited number of visitors per night.  The exhibit is open Thursday through Sunday opening time (just before sunset) and for about three or four hours depending on the day of the week.  The exhibit usually sells-out each night in on-line ticket purchases. 

We went in mid-December because it had been advertised that the exhibit would be closing in January 2020.  It has been extended to June 2020, and we are thinking it might be worth a trip in the spring with warmer weather.  I think I could use a little more time to sit on the benches and absorb the experience.