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Las Vegas Art Installation Celebrates The Beauty Of America’s National Parks

Las Vegas Art Installation Celebrates The Beauty Of America's National ParksLas Vegas is known for its gaudiness, but it is also a place of great art with a new creation by artist Claudia Bueno.

Most people know Las Vegas for The Strip and the never-ending neon, the sound of slot machines and live entertainment. However, thanks to artist Claudia Bueno, Sin City also features beautiful art. Bueno has created a new light installation to simulate the oscillating frequencies of natural life.

Pulse in Las Vegas

Artist Claudia Bueno’s new art installation brings the hidden wonders of America’s national parks to Las Vegas. Bueno has created a vibrant light installation that represents the frequencies of natural life in the parks. The work, named Pulse, was inspired by the natural splendors of Grand Teton National Parks and Yellowstone. The light installation will debut at the new permanent exhibition space at Meow Wolf in Vegas later this month.

In her “aquarium-style installation” Pulse, Bueno’s new work consists of intricate patterns of white lines that have been delicately hand-painted onto layers of glass panels. The installation is brought to life with sound and light. While the work is playful and mesmerizing, Pulse also comments on humans’ relationship with nature and life, as well as art’s engagement with the natural world.

‘Nature still rules’

Venezuela-born artist Claudia Bueno says she was inspired to focus her new project on nature following a visit to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park six years ago. She says she was stunned by the natural splendors while walking above the volcano. Bueno said, “Spending time in this geographical area where unquestionably nature still rules was a powerful and humbling reminder of our transient existence.”

“It felt incredibly vulnerable to be standing over the fine crust that separated my apparently sustainable world from a massive magma pool boiling below me with enough power to wipe out our existence with a sneeze.”

Bueno spoke of the beauty of America’s national parks, especially Yellowstone with its geysers, wildlife and mud pots. She said, “Walking around Yellowstone feels like walking through a steaming cloud of our planet’s own breath where air, mist, mud, heat and water are exuding from its inner core.”

Bueno added that this provided a very deep and intimate connection with Earth, while experiencing it as a massive active force and gaining a new perspective of her scale and impact in this world. The artist believes something similar touches people so deeply when they visit the area.

Bueno spent several days in Yellowstone with her camera, capturing the microorganisms and the intricate patterns of nature growing inside the thermal pools. She started studying the organic networks and growth systems, including lichen, fungus, moss, flowers, leaves, tree branches, root systems and more. Bueno then assimilated it as one “whole, evolving and giant living organism.”

Pulse created in the studio

After her visit to Yellowstone, Bueno returned to her Idaho studio to transform these patterns into paintings, sculptures and drawings and Pulse was created. The artist worked with a team of local artists to hand-paint the panels over a period of eight months. Meason Wiley and Mads Christensen, two technical artists, assisted Bueno with the custom light and sound system for the art installation.

Speaking of the Pulse installation, she said it is the “most complex and involved project” she has ever made. Bueno said it all came together beautifully as a collaborative effort, and she feels grateful for the many people who gave the work their best care and expertise.

Visitors to Las Vegas can see Pulse, which runs alongside the “creepy grocery store” Omega Mart at Meow Wolf’s permanent Las Vegas exhibition. The installation is located at AREA15, the third permanent space for the art collective, which has other experimental art installations in Santa Fe and Denver.

When will Pulse open?

Meow Wolf and Pulse are set to open in Las Vegas on February 18 and tickets are available for purchase here. Until then, readers can see more of Bueno’s work on her website and on Instagram.

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