URBAN LIGHTS RUHR
This year Urbane Künste Ruhr together with international artists realize for the second time since 2013 light art works in public space, in 2014 in the urban space of Hamm. Five artists (collectives) from Taiwan, Belgium, Canada and Germany – LAb[au], Plastique Fantastique, RaumZeitPiraten, Sans façon and Jun Yang – have been invited to explore urban space and in particular its connection with water in and around the city of Hamm. The theme «Hamm ans Wasser» (Bring Hamm to the water) has been concerning urban planners and residents for many years, and URBAN LIGHTS RUHR aims to reanimate the dialogue and open up new perspectives for the city. The works created in the context of URBAN LIGHTS RUHR link Hamm city centre with the banks of the river Lippe and the Datteln-Hamm-Canal and invite to strolls, discoveries and actively joining in. URBAN LIGHTS RUHR not only creates new light art, but also looks into existing light art in Hamm, which is of great significance and has a long tradition locally: Hamm is a firm component of the Licht(kunst)Region Hellweg – ein Lichtweg. URBAN LIGHTS RUHR provides residents and visitors to Hamm as well as international artists with a platform for participating in the city’s urban development and giving new impulses.
Plastique Fantastique planned four temporary architectures at different places in Hamm. The artists´ main objective is to change the perception of the places. Their tools are mostly pneumatic, partly walk-in architectures, occasionally connected with sound and light sculptures. References to experiments of the 1960ies and 1970ies, when artists´ collectives such as Haus-Rucker-Co, Coop Himmelb(l)au and artists such as Jeff Shaw and Graham Stevens already experimented with "inflatable structures" are more than obvious. This reference is particularly perceptible in the work RETTUNGSRING, when half of the inflated swim ring lies in the water, half of it on land. SUPERTUNNEL is a similar experience, which refers even more to the ambient urban situation. AEROPOLIS restaged a place in town by adding an inflatable sculpture. And in SOUND OF LIGHT, Plastique Fantastique combine the pneumatic sculpture with interactive light and sound to create a multimedia experience.
Text: Urban Lights Ruhr
Team: Marco Canevacci, Marco Barotti, Stephanie Grönnert, Mirjam Dorsch, Hugo Luque, Gabriel Spera, Àlvaro Gómez-Sellés, Yena Young
Photo: Roman Mensing
Thanks: Katja Aßmann
Interview with: Deconarch