The audio-visual Installation Cold Lights confronts the accuracy of the natural scientific view on the observed object with the "long winded" perception of an art piece. On the one hand the spectator has to come very close to the exhibited organic object to analyze all the details and to see all texts and images projected on the surface of the display right before it, on the other hand he can let his eyes wander around the room in some kind of "holistic" perception. Especially the sound connects all the exhibits to one complex "organic" object. The spectator is challenged to reflect on his perception in and of natural science as being exact and art as dealing with fictions and virtuality. In that way the installation also reflects on the utilization on imaging technology in exact sciences.
Installation by Maximilian Haas (Audio), René Liebert and Tobias Rosenberger
ca. 6m30 x 4m50 x 3m30 (H)
Mixed Media (Podesterie, 12 deconstructed Tft-Displays, Wood, 24 Mini-Loudspeakers, one mouse, 4 scorpions, Lightbacteria, Chemiluminescent Liquids, 2 cameras, diverse sensors + motors, 7 Computer, 2 Audio-Interfaces, one usb-dmx-interface + 2 Arduino-Microcontroller).
We thank Prof. Dr. Bruno Deiss, Dipl.-Biol. Sven A. Zörner, Dr. Stefan Saum, Dipl.- Biol. Boris Striffler, Dr. Jörg Neudert, Anja Beneckenstein, Dipl.-Chem. Christian Müller, Elke Wess, PD. Dr. Dieter Weiß, Georg Oppermann, Dr. med. Christoph Schimmelpfennig, Prof. Bereiter-Hahn + all further supporters.
- Luminale Frankfurt 2008 (06.04 - 11.04, Physikalischer Verein)
- Festival Junger Talente 2008 (19.09 - 21.09, Hafen2, Offenbach/Main)
Cold Lights deals with two scientific phenomena:
First, the biological and chemical phenomenon of luminescence (bioluminescence,chemiluminescence and fluorescence).
Living organisms are a difficult material for art. The organic art piece is accident-sensitive. It can never be exactly planned. It conserves an area, that artistic descisions can't influence.
Second, techniques of „visualization“ and „screening“ in bioscientific research:
We made extensive use of commonly used LCD-ThinFilmTransistor-Display-technology. We deconstructed used 15“ Tft-Displays and separated the Panels from its backlights. The panels were used as transparent „windows“ (still capable of presenting video content) in front of the black boxes, in which we placed our luminescent and fluorescent light sources. Therefore it is made possible, to view simultaneously an object and its visualization or further descriptions /analyses of it in Realtime.
The transparent tft-panels open a complex relation between concrete image space and actual (computergenerated) video-content. The video-image can irritate the perception of a „real“ object behind, only a light-emitting object behind the panel can make the videocontent visible. At the same time the video-image controls the gaze of the spectator at what is behind of it, releases or conceals the sight (white color becomes almost transparent, black the opposite).
There is no narrative in our audio-visual installation.
