If the UnConvention (2008) became a template for many future Northern Lights.mn platforms, aurora borealis was an early object lesson in unlearning the meaning of “failure.” In 2009, NL’s first commissioned art project was for sound
artist Stephen Vitiello with cinematographer Matt Flowers to create a composition based on Very Low Frequency recordings of the aurora borealis (northern lights). They flew to Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, in October, and this is an excerpt from Vitiello’s report from the field:
no NL to be seen. . . . I can certainly make something but it’s more of a ‘waiting for the lights’ piece.” In the end, the only presentation of the project was a couple of blog entries. Initially disappointed, we soon came to recognize this as not failure but a fundamental aspect of commissioning art. Not unlike a science experiment, a result different from what is hypothesized is still valuable if the process is well executed.