Anyone who has spent a good hour in the underground light tunnel at the MFAH knows that light and color — when fused properly — can have an effect akin to any cocktail of mind-altering substances. Well, the light tunnel is getting an even trippier cousin: At the nearby Rice Gallery, which is closed for summer, Lisa Hoke’s “Light My Fire” will shine out through the hottest months. More than 100,000 strips of rolled-up colored paper, varying in height, are gathered like a tremendous bouquet along the gallery’s window. Light seeps through at varying spaces and intervals, creating an undulating sea of reds, pinks, deep blues and every color in between. The effect? A soothing symphony of a light display that may require an unexpectedly long session of staring. Hoke knows what she’s dealing with: “I love that initial intoxication of color,” she has said of the design’s inspiration.
May 23-Aug. 31
This article appears in May 18-24, 2006.