Friday, October 16, 2015
The Sickest Photos from the Berlin Festival of Light
The Creators Project: Berlin's annual celebration of all things bright and glowing, the Berlin Festival of Lights is off to an amazing start. Projection mapping spectacles engulf landmarks like the Berlin Cathedral, the US Embassy, the Brandenburg Gate, and Berlin City Palace, and light sculptures of angel wings and massive playing cards dot the city's public spaces.
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I think that the Berlin Festival of Lights is a really cool thing. I wish we had something like that here. The fact that they show all of these different forms of art through light and media is really interesting. I really like how they transformed the buildings by projection mapping different images and video on them. It seems like a very big event because people are also wearing light up clothing and suits. There were people with light up shoes and a guy in a full costume that was completely lit up and it kind of looked like a robot. This event is probably very good to bring the community together because everyone is coming to look at the lights and the beauty of Berlin and experiencing all of the culture and art. I hope this continues and I wish that I could go in the future.
I agree with Sam. It seems to me, that the best part of going to a festival like this is that you don't just have to see one type of art form, but all of them trying to show off something we all seem drawn to: light. I am interested in how the festival works and operates. How much of the city does it properly span and how many installations are within ten feet of each other. It seems like with a festival that requires light, it also requires darkness so they might have to be a little bit spread out. I tried to look for information on logistics, but the website is in German and the wikipedia only has cool pictures. Ultimately, I think this would be an amazing way to bring people outside to walk around and appreciate the city they see every day in a new and different way.
So I don’t think I’m alone when I say that this is really interesting, evidenced by other comments on this article. But I view the fact that it’s in Germany as a call to action as opposed to a setback. If you think that this would be an awesome thing to bring to Pittsburgh, we are all in the industry of making cool shit (art) happen. We are all majoring in either the management or the creation of art, we even have a department dedicated to media and projection. Of course it’s unreasonable to start on this scale, but maybe next year we light up Purnell like the Brandenburg Gate for playground, or even just the lobby, or a room. My point is so many of the people we interact with daily want to spend the rest of their lives creating environments and making statements artistically, and so many others want to spend the rest of their lives helping manage those dreams so they can be realized practically. If someone in the SOD wants to do something like this, then they’re in a pretty good place to do it.
This is truly beautiful, I love these. These art pieces have such a futuristic feel to them because they were not created with paint brush on paper, but instead on technological interfaces that our society has come to depend on. The blending between the two is clearly astounding, and incredibly successful. It’s just so transformative, you see some of these monuments and consciously you know that in real life they are made up of white marble or cement, but this festival embellishes them in so much beautiful vivid color that it seems the buildings have always been that way, as beautiful structures from another world. I think this would be a great project to see around CMU, as well as the greater Pittsburgh area. The closest thing I’ve seen to this in the United States is the when Disneyworld does their nightly show projected on Cinderella’s castle. I have no idea how to start creating one of these, but I think with the way our society is headed, it is an important art form to learn.
These are so amazing to see. The fact that visual art can be manipulated with technology is just astounding. How far ahead we are going in means to exhibit art. I agree with Jasmine in how cool it is that the vibrant colors and images projected onto the buildings and monuments, emphasize the idea that they are just white cement canvases. Foundations for the artistic lights. Ive only ever seen light shows at Disney World and I absolutely loved it. It would be amazing to see more events and exhibitions like these locally to enjoy more often. With society getting more and more involved with technology and technological art, I can't wait to see this form of art dispersed more around the world and complementing other mediums of art.
I love this. Yes, I think the art is really freaking cool. But what I love most about this festival is the community engagement. Berlin is taking art and making it impossible for its everyday citizens to miss. Further, it is encouraging people to embrace the idea of the festival itself and show their support through dressing in costumes. This festival is taking architecture and public spaces that the people of Berlin are very familiar with, and transforming them through the use of art and technology. I would love to see the demographics of people who attended this festival. Is the audience made up of mostly local people? People from all over Germany? The world? I would like to see how wide of an audience this attracts. From what I can see, it looks like it would attract a decent amount of tourists, as well as locals. Not only is this festival showcasing really interesting, technological inspired art, but it is also an event in itself. In our modern age, especially when marketing to millenials, we need to be treating our art not only as something for an audience to view, but also as an experience. We are in an age where our audiences can "view" art on their phones, tvs, and computers. In order to get them in our audiences, we need to make our art an experience that can only be experienced in person.
I just love that an entire city embraces this festival and showcases it’s talent all over buildings. I would love to see it in person and experience it with the locals. This is the type of thing that I think more cities should start doing to embrace its culture and art life. People get to design these beautiful art pieces and everyone gets to see them. It’s so unique and spectacular. Cities in the US do have festivals and things for their locals but something this big and showy is not done normally and I think it has to do with people being afraid to offend others or to somehow have a negative impact on the city. But I think we should fight against those feelings because if we still keep thinking that way we will never make new discoveries and step into a new world of acceptance and peace.
The festival of lights looks like a truly amazing event to go to. The amount of work that has gone into each one of these projects is amazing. I love how they transformed each of the buildings and objects, just with light. I want to know how the artists who made these installations were chosen and if it was hard to find people considering this is the first year this happened. I must say, there are some really impressive light displays here and I cannot wait to see what they do in future years. Building transformations are my favorite because just for a while you can forget that you are looking at something that has been standing there for years, which is made out of brick and concrete, and see something completely different and futuristic. I especially loved the picture of the building that is blue and green with the two people with light up shoes. It has such a cool futuristic hope to it.
If there was ever any doubt that media design is taking the world by storm, this article (and festival) should put those doubts to rest. A personal favorite image of mine is the house of cards with the cards being projected onto refractive facing. I believe that the reason media is so fascinating to the general public is because it's the easiest way to screw with the perception of light. If you show anyone a projected image, they assume that there are little images in the glass, and light is being shot at it, with a prism magnifying the image. Assuming that someone designed the way the projector sits, the angles at which the image splits, and how each image relates to the other is much more enigmatic than your typical light trick. Most festivals of light I have been to have been strictly christmas lights dancing to music, which is fun for a while, but I hope one day to see the real deal. Berlin, anyone?
This is so cool. My undergrad have a Media Designer come in and do a mapping project in the main quad for their Centennial year and it reminds me of these images so much. Media is truly the next frontier of the art world, and this is just one example of it on mega-scale. I cannot believe that the whole city of Berlin became involved in the festival and that on the other side of that, the artists engaged so closely with the city, using the existing architecture and infrastructure and taking it to a new level, pointing out things that you would have never seen before. I do not know of very many citywide festivals that are so willing to engage with the city itself to make the art even better and that the city is so willing to engage with artists to basically shut down parts of the city to create art. So amazing.
This is amazing! I think my favorite part of the whole thing was how many different ways they lit up the Berliner Dom. It's a beautiful old building with a lot of history, but in these photos it serves as a bright representation of the modern world to come! Absolutely fun. I also love that projection mapping wasn't all of it. There were some photos of the more interactive portions of the festival, which appealed to me the most. Creating shadows in a field of color, bicycling around in a brightly lit box, wearing glowing clothing, all sounds like a fantastic way to celebrate this festival of lights! I am surprised that there was not more fire, as that seems to be such an elemental part of our understanding of light, but perhaps the lack of flame is a portend for the coming age of electronics and LED technology, which seems to permeate this festival. It looks like a very successful celebration of the new technology to come!
The theatricality and interactive nature of these displays is enough to make any lighting designer swoon, much less a costume designer. More so, I think the suspension of disbelief which observers of such spectacles gain is extremely beneficial to theatrical performance attendance. All this interactivity and storytelling and emotional communication being done with nothing but light and a little ingenuity - that's amazing. Imagine what could happen if actors, costumes, sets, props, and sound got involved. Indeed, it is clear by some of these photos that such elements are already being incorporated. I would love to see something like a play or a musical put on within the setting of this festival - I think that could do a lot to make the connection between this and theatre in audiences minds. All in all, There is a lot of potential here for theatricality which I'm sure many people other than myself have noticed, whether by photos or (with even greater fortune) in person.
This is proof that media design is making a statement and going to go far. All the creations are really pretty amazing, the time that must of went into that and the technology they were able to use is all incredible. The way theater is moving now, their is a lot of work with media design, especially that goes beyond just a projector hitting a drop and the audience sees and image. This is one way that the world is starting to the talent of media design. For many of the pieces the projection mapping must of been a huge process, but for others it looks very simple and it is so interesting that they showcase both ends of the spectrum to show off everything that they can. If this is what they can do now, I can not wait to see what is happening in a few more years when even more technology evolves and new ideas are created.
Very cool berlin! I always like to see when cities stop everything to host a festival or event open to the public that promotes public art and entertainment. There is a fine line between public entertainment that is good and healthy, and bread and circuses distractions from actual problems of a city that need to be fixed. I think festivals and celebrations of publicly created and enjoyed art that is visually pleasing, but otherwise un-intrusive are the best kind. One photo from the lot stuck out more than the rest to me. The ghostly many masted sailing ship created out of the fog with projector created holograms I think is the most interesting piece displayed here. Holograms, if we can figure out how to do them well, for a massive amount of people without requiring a device modifying what the user sees (like 3D glasses), that will be the next major revolution in display and computer technology.
These pictures are absolutely stunning and blow my mind about the many ways we are able to manipulate the world through entertainment and light. Through the use of projection mapping and light the designers were able to manipulate historical buildings and display them in entire new way without having to harm the existing buildings. I especially love this form of light because the projections can be whatever you want and are interchangeable. The best example was at disney where they were able to allude to many different stories on one of the most iconic pieces of architecture in the modern world.The designers in Germany were able to do the exact same thing on their buildings. It didn't have to be a story it could just be a feeling or a thought they want you to have about their work. The sculptures they were able to make were another awesome addition to the city night life. Although I hope they put them in places that don't destroy the historic aesthetic of berlin. Europe especially has a very distinct culture and image that they want to continue to have and that means that a sculpture needs to portray that and not stand out like a sore thumb. That is why I really like the projections they can be turned off and on and destroy no aesthetic while its off, they are temporary and highly flexible.
One of the coolest things to do with lighting is probably projection mapping, and it has become a growing industry. There is so much that you can do with it. That in itself can create a whole show. One that can be constantly changing with the scenery and architecture around you to work with. I mean I feel like projection mapping is being able to set the boundaries of what it is you are projecting on, because if you can’t do that, well then, the audience is probably missing out on a little bit of the story you are trying to portray. Some of the designs that were displayed, really took some thought and creativity to work out. What is neat about projection mapping is that you can make the architecture be whatever you want it to be. There aren’t any limitations, you could make it look like a dilapidated house, or a mansion, the choice is yours.
Ah, Berlin! I am still upset over the fact that I wasn't able to make my way over to Berlin this past summer when I was in Germany. This German city is such a cultural center for the arts so seeing that they've put on such a successful light festival was something I never doubted. Lights does so much that many of us don't realize on a daily basis. The same colors under broad sunlight look drastically different under dim light. Without the presence of light, we would not be able to perceive anything. I wish that something like this would make its way over to Pittsburgh because many individuals don't understand the scope of using light as a medium. The ability to create projections like these blow my mind to smithereens because I have no idea how it works or how it happens. The first time I realized that light could truly be used as an artistic medium was when I discovered James Turrell's work and seeing his exhibition at the Guggenheim last year.
These pictures depicted ideas and ability that I did not even know existed. As many know Berlin is a mecca for up and coming art, and has been for quite some time. These photos are beautiful. The use of projection mapping and lighting design is so well thought out and obviously impeccably executed. Exploring lighting is something I look forward to, here at CMU! After taking Susan's class for just these few short weeks, I cannot help but to apply my thoughts and ideas on these pictures. I love that lighting has the ability to completely alter a piece of architecture, or art, or clothing, and even human beings constantly. The idea that light is constantly changing and never permanent is an idea that can continued to be expanded on for eternity.
Bringing it back, I thoroughly enjoyed the pieces. Bringing new light, pun intended, to historical landmarks is exciting. These new views allows our generation appreciate what others built before us.
These photos are amazing! I love what can be done with picture mapping on architecture and it makes me very happy to see these shows from around the world on the green page. I love the house of cards, I think it would be incredible if the structure was large and strong enough to be able to be walked on and explored from the inside. I am really digging the floor that lights up where the people are, it’s a great way for people to experience the LED closeness from a far. It seems like it would particularly exciting to watch a projection show while everyone has their own little light under their feet. As for the actual building projection art, some of the compositions are really wonderful. Another audience experience I thought looked fun was the light suit. I can’t imagine being lit up (literally speaking) balancing on two wheels. Either that or I just can’t see the guy standing behind it.
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