Luminale 2018
You want to see, so learn to act

At the Luminale 2018, the Digital Design Unit (DDU) of the Architecture Department of the Technical University of Darmstadt was represented with the installation WILLST DU SEHEN, SO LERNE ZU HANDELN in the premises of the Markt im Hof in Sachsenhausen. The Biennale for Light Art and Urban Design has been held every two years in Frankfurt and Offenbach since 2002 and is one of the most popular events in the cultural life of the Rhine-Main region with over 200,000 visitors*.

Prospective architects* designed and realized a space-forming sculpture composed of many building blocks, which invited us to linger, but also carried a hidden message: The seemingly randomly and chaotically distributed colour and light patterns on the object only made sense once the “right” point of view had been found. Then they sit down to a readable message and reveal their secret. But only for a short moment, because a robot arm permanently converts the digital aggregation by picking up components and placing them at another location. Abrupt colour changes suddenly make letters disappear and change the meaning of the messages.

The project was realised with the friendly support of Caparol and ACDC, a subsidiary of the Zumtobel Group. The clever interaction of the Caparol Icon colours and the REB LED spotlights made an exciting and multi-layered installation possible.

The sculpture turned viewers into active participants. Only those who moved themselves when looking at the work could open it up and decipher the hidden message. The effect was achieved with the help of anamorphosis: From one point of view, images are projected onto the sculpture and distorted on the individual elements. However, if you take the position of the projector, you can see the undistorted image. Viewers must act, that is: move in order to recognize the images. Anamorphoses remind us how variable and location-dependent our perception is. In the age of digital echo chambers of social networks on the Internet, this reflection is more necessary than ever.

All involved parties:

Teachers

Oliver Tessmann

Bastian Wibranek

Alexander Stefas

Tutors

Martin Knoll, Samim Mehdizade

Students

Aleksandra Elzbieta Buchalik, Anastasia Oboturov, Bastian Nispel, Begona Roget, Cindy Drummond, Daniela Hoffmann, Eric Rene Göbel, Eva Ute Streng, Felix Graf, Franz Georg Theobald, Frederica Aguiar de Melo, Gunel Aliyeva, Hendrik Beckers, Janine Schlaak, Julian Weber, Lukas Koser, Maximilian Vincent Gehron, Olivier Stoos, Philipp Riebel-Vosgerau, Richard Oliver Gerspach

Video

Sabri Noor

MAKE

Sponsors

Markt im Hof

CAPAROL Farben Lacke Bautenschutz GmbH

acdc Zumtobel Group

Schreinerei Friedhelm Nispel

Böttiger das Fliesenhaus

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