There are many light festivals in 2021 with the theme of light and shadow. Lighting installations integrating art and technology are impressive. Taking light as the medium, the works provided the audience with an artistic experience brought by modern technology.
After the six light festivals (Noor Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Gangshan Lantern Festival in Gaoxiong, Taiwan, China, Taiwan International Light Festival in China, Copenhagen Light Festival in Denmark, Portland Winter Light Festival in the United States, and TSB Festival of Lights in New Zealand) in 2021H1, the three global light festivals in 2021H2 have presented many works with highlights, allowing the tourists to experience a fantasy journey with light and shadow.
Signal Festival in Prague
Prague is a well-known tourist city with many buildings of various historical periods and styles in the Czech Republic, especially the Baroque and Gothic styles.
The Signal Festival in October every year has become a veritable carnival for everyone in Prague. Artists arrange audio and video installations in the ancient Prague streets. While visiting the Signal Festival, tourists can also enjoy open-air concerts, creating an illusion that Prague Spring has been moved to the streets.
From October 14 to 17, the Signal Festival 2021 returned after a long pause. The familiar streets of Prague are decorated with lights and transformed into a completely different style, bringing tourists an encounter with light.
As the largest cultural event in the Czech Republic, for four nights in a row, the Signal Festival invited citizens and tourists to take part in an immersive experience covering the whole city to celebrate and appreciate its streets, landmarks and urban spaces.
“Plan C” was this year’s theme. Artists used 22 works to call on people to coexist with nature, gradually overcome the epidemic and create a healthier environment on earth.
Superar
Artist: Onionlab
The immersive projection installation Superar artistically addresses the coronavirus crisis and its impact on humans and the Earth, which explores the reactions and reflections of the audience.
Large screens, beam lamps, LED light bands, and projection pictures were perfectly combined with music. Lighting embellishment and visual coordination provided a visual picture that breaks through the space for the audience.
The Wind
Artist: Weltraumgrafik
The Wind is a symbol of change and uncertainty that we need not fear.
The wind, which is divided into two parts of the recent past and the near future, is a hypnotic projection that is abstract, with chaos, crisis, change, correction, and restart being included in it, and conflict is a component of this evolutionary process.
Living forest
Artist: Kateřina Blahutová
The installation brings a piece of a devastating forest to the tourists in the protected area. It makes them face the pressing problem of the destroyed natural environment.
By inserting a coin, you can “resurrect” the forest. The funds raised will be donated to organizations that are involved in long-term forest restoration. You can contribute to the restoration of the forest while enjoying unique visual artworks.
Radical Compromise
Artist: Daniel Červenka, et al.
Under the background of global environmental crisis, Radical Compromise highlights the energy issue in Europe.
With the combination of the aerial footage and the electron microscope images of rocks, photogrammetry and digital 3D operation, this projection work makes remarks on the situation via a visual abstraction, and this is reproduced on a seven-channel sound setup accompanied by music on site.
Impact
Artist: Lukáš Dřevjaný
The inspiration of the audio-visual installation came from moments that are powerful, extraordinary and even can change one’s life. The impact refers to not only the physical impact, but also the one in a symbolic sense.
A strong impulse can cause the chain reactions of a series of events, which is the accelerated pulse and adrenaline on the one hand, and the space for distance, contemplation and evaluation on the other hand.
Blooming of Light
Artist: Vrtiška & Žák
Blooming of Light, a kinetic installation, in the form of bizarre techno-flowers, stands for the nature around us, and every visitor can become a part of it, representing harmony between man and Nature.
The dry leaves and grass can be transformed into a miracle garden full of light, colors, and music by rotating the irons.
Simulacra
Artist: Vítězslav Plavec
Special flat lenses are used for this installation to create dynamic images of the deformed surroundings, and the objects exhibited, as well as their observers, namely, the festival visitors.
It makes an attempt to integrate into the urban architecture that is collage-like and sometimes even cold with the help of its formation.
Jeff
Artist: Milena Dopitová
The shape of this installation is similar to a pump specially designed for oil extraction. It is not only a carrier of the dazzling wealth, but also a proof of the unhealthy existence in modern society.
Digital Light
Artist: 3DSENSE
The projectors originally installed in vehicles’ light beams are used in this installation, imitating the iconic night driving of vehicles through the integration of animation, sound and light.
The projection and light volumes are enhanced through fog and mist, and the dynamic effects are strengthened by the electronic music.
The historical buildings and the advanced light technology Digital Light enable Prague, the ancient city, to have a new look and show its unique charm accumulated in the long history to the world.
Berlin Festival of Lights
From September 3 to 12, Berlin Festival of Lights 2021 came as expected. It transforms 75 landmarks and buildings across the city through the use of lights, projections, 3D mapping and videos, including Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Cathedral, Charlottenburg Palace, Potsdam Square, and Berlin Television Tower. Artists’ works called for more ecological sustainability and the preservation of cultural diversity.
Brandenburg Gate
As the central landmark of the lights event, “THE CLIMATE PLEDGE” was the motto of Brandenburg Gate this year, calling on mankind to make a blueprint for the preservation of our planet.
Berlin Cathedral
How do artists interpret “Creating Tomorrow”? What do they think about the future? What are their wishes? Eight artists used eight expressive projections in Berlin Cathedral to make interpretations.
Berlin Television Tower
Berlin Television Tower is located in the central Alexanderplatz. It is the tallest building in Berlin and it can be seen almost anywhere in the city.
Three international artist teams: Les Ateliers Nomad, Clockwork and George Berlin showed their thoughts. The tenor of the mappings shown is science, sustainability and climate protection.
Charlottenburg Palace
The light of tomorrow is a projection by the Spanish studio map. Starting from the emergence of charcoal, it tells of the use of fossil fuels.
The mapping Transformation of the artist collective RE: SORB focuses on alternative energy, which may be a path for a new tomorrow.
In the video mapping by the Polish creative team Clockwork, the baroque Charlottenburg Palace is first lighted up by disco balls and dances to the beat. Then the facade turns into a glass structure, where whales swim in the universe and bubbles and children turn into balloons…
Potsdam Square
The impressive light mapping works turn the entire Potsdam Square into a huge gallery in the open air, clarifying themes such as sustainability, future, science, humanity and diversity in an intensive manner.
Hotel de Rome
The video mapping of about three minutes tells the story of a damaged world that is repairing itself, showing a beautiful world where people live in harmony with nature.
Konzerthaus Berlin
The projection show at the concert hall suited on the Gendarmenmarkt square traces the development of music and pays tribute to the greatest Sony Music artists. This is a fascinating journey through time, from the phonograph to the record player to the long pop music cassette inserted into the Sony Walkman.
When night falls, all landmarks in Berlin turn into outdoor cinemas, telling lifelike history, expressing a longing, and placing an emotion… Goodbye, 2021. Hello, 2022!
Illuminate Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia, and it is a city full of vitality and creativity. Recently, a celebration of light, art and music – Illuminate Adelaide made the winter here full of life with innovation, music, art and light.
During the festival, every corner of Adelaide, including North Terrace, Rundle Mall, and the Library is lighted up by colorful lights to become a “sleepless city”. With the integration and support of various art forms and high technologies, it glows in a spectacular and colorful urban splendor. Among many works of light art, the Light Cycles in the Adelaide Botanic Garden and the Light Creatures at Adelaide Zoo were refreshing.
LIGHT CYCLES
Light Cycles was created by Moment Factory. It is rooted in the exploration of the relationship between humans and nature. It uses video projection, lighting effects, lasers, fog and mist and music to amplify the sounds of the natural world, and turns Adelaide Botanic Garden into a wonderful forest of lights, subverting people’s daily cognition.
Light Cycles covered an area of nearly 2 kilometers and had seven immersive installations, each of which encouraged tourists to establish new connections with nature.
Tourists entered the golden mist of the setting sun through a tunnel that combines vines, fog and mist, and lights. The original music created by The Barr Brothers, an indie-folk band, blended with the natural environment.
The pathway was lighted by the golden light in the mist. Walking along the dim pathway, the treetops shone, and the shadows of trees danced in the breeze.
In the forest, the rotating LED lamps had their own whirlpool and dynamic sound effects, bringing the changing scenes of the forest from day to sunset and to night. It made the relaxed tourists re-discover the botanical garden and understand Mother Earth.
The light matrix that combined music and light surrounded everyone in a band composed of music and dynamic LED lights.
All trees along the pathway had unique musical features that blended with the colored notes on the ground in harmony.
LED installations were everywhere around the grass, which seemed to be communicating with tourists through flashing lights.
When the faint light broke through the fog, the lake became calm and beautiful. When a laser beam swept the calm lake, it brought an epic reflection and movement moment.
The inspiration of the fireplace installation came from the eternal power of bonfire, bringing tourists on the journey to the last stop – Palm House.
Against the iconic Palm House of the Botanic Garden, the colorful and brilliant lights intertwined with the sounds of the chorus and implied unity and beauty.
Light Cycles combined nature and imagination and revitalized the ancient Adelaide Botanic Garden in winter. It has become a model of local and international cooperation as well as a new highlight of immersive experience that explores the combination of future technology and creative industries.
LIGHT CREATURES
Native animals that live at Adelaide Zoo are cute and valiant in the daytime. You may think that they will rest quietly at night, but their “night life” is so rich that it is dazzling. Special animals carefully designed by artists gather in a pleasant space. They are attractive and can arouse the child-like curiosity of tourists of all ages.
Light Creatures at Adelaide Zoo is a wonderful and fantastic world of light and shadow of animals created by SA Power Networks EmpoweringSA. The creators are inspired by the colorful and charming personalities of the permanent residents of the Zoo. They designed the installations with mixed colors. These animal images are realistic, like friends in the lives of tourists.
You will enter a new world after walking into Adelaide Zoo after dark.
Here, you can see enormous animatronic Giant Pandas playing and rolling in the Central Lawns, giraffes enjoying the stars with their head holding up high, and jellyfish wriggling in an underwater wonderland with colorful corals swaying with the following water.
If you are lucky, you may come across an energetic koala not lying fast asleep in the daytime.
By report, at Adelaide Zoo, this is the first time for art, light and technology to come together, allowing a zero-distance interaction between tourists and animals, and allowing tourists to see, think and feel nature through unique lens.
