Wunderkammers of Light
From September 24th to October 3rd, 2010, the fifth edition of the LichtRouten takes place in the public space of Luedenscheid. In the exhibition, art and design works which show excellence in the use of light as material or media, are presented throughout the city’s center.
In 2010 works by Armsrock, Gudrun Barenbrock, Katherine Berndt, Christian and Andreas Breil Ermisch, Ghiju Diaz de Leon, Ali Heshmati and Lars-Meeß Olsohn with Philip Sydow, Olga Kisseleva, Thorbjørn Lausten, Dominik Lejman, Ocubo, Stefan Reusse, Sigrid Sandmann, Gebhard Sengmüller, Ursula Scherrer and Kurt Laurenz Theinert as well as by RaumZeitPiraten are on display. All works are created site-specific or adapted to the specifics of the locations. For the first time, the large-scale projections of Armsrock from Denmark, Ghiju Diaz de Leon from Mexico and Ocubo from Portugal are to be shown in Germany. New artistic concepts come from Ali Heshmati, Lars-Meeß Olsohn and Philip Sydow, Olga Kisseleva and Sylvain Reynal and Thorbjørn Lausten.
In the choice of locations for the installations and interventions, the focus of LichtRouten 2010 is the development of the city during the industrialization, which since the mid-18th century has given the city a very unique face. The old administration building, the old district court, the old post office, the first department store, selected factories and selected houses and the landmark “Schützenhalle” (translates as “shooting gallery”) date from the period of promoterism. In the artistic approach emerges a dialogue between past and present and in the collage of technical-industrial, economic, sociocultural and artistic values the art and design works act as a “double exposure” offering stunning sites and insights.
Introduction
Technical Developments and Societal Change
LichtRouten 2010 represents a connecting point between technical development and societal change. Working and living conditions changed during the 19th and 20th centuries in the wake of industrialisation. The codification of industrial work was accompanied by socio-cultural and urban space changes that were also shaped by a major contribution from art, design and architecture. Halls were built for machinery and production, new types of residential forms and quarters were developed and socio-cultural venues such as places of assembly and facilities for sports, education and events were redesigned. This resulted in changes in the urban environment as a living and working space that still characterise the appearance of Lüdenscheid today. LichtRouten 2010 represents an invitation to a dialogue on the past and the present with an eye on the important changes brought by digitalisation that are now altering living and working conditions with the same lasting effect that industrialisation had.
Art and Design in Public Space
As an exhibition format for art and design in public spaces, LichtRouten 2010 depicts works in which scientific and aesthetic phenomena, natural and technical possibilities and global developments along with a diversity of world views come together in very different artistic and design strategies. All of the works were either adapted or reconceived in the confrontation with the specific locations, their histories and socio-cultural implications. For the 10-day duration of the exhibition, the pieces will be integrated into existing urban environments and presented for discussion in public space.
Light as a Working Material
The invited artists and designers research and experiment with light as a medium of the visible world and its essential relevance for every world view. They present works using light as a material, making us conscious of the fact that there is no space and no material, no shapes and colours that are visible on their own without light. They focus on light sources, light images and light spaces with a view on the variables of time and space, distance and perspective, perceptibility and background experience as well as the guiding interests and fantasies of the viewers, additionally making LichtRouten’s visitors a part of the interplay of the light itself. We are very much looking forward to these artists and installations, because over the last ten years they have made the LichtRouten into a celebration of the city of light.
Bettina Pelz and Tom Groll Curators
