Light and Word, cities by the sea

Light and Word, cities by the sea

Light Performance by Ruairí O’Brien Three arts, one theme: Ronald Lippok (sound), Thomas Kunst (lyrics) and Ruairí O’Brien (light) presented the BARDINALE theme “Cities by the Sea” in 2005. The focus was on the diversity of poetic forms of expression and at the same time the uniqueness of poetry, sound art and light poetry was emphasized. The three artistic interpretations were presented in separate sequences so that the audience had the chance to experience and compare the implementation of one and the same theme in three poetic expressions. The temporal and content-related dramaturgy of this total work of art allowed each genre the greatest possible scope for creativity and sole attention. www.bardinale.de

Old Leipzig Train Station

Old Leipzig Train Station

Art – architecture – lighting concept for the Dresden North memorial area – competition entry The LICHTERTÄHLER concept is an expression of an immersive culture of remembrance. The light/shadow sculptures, which can be executed at different heights, dimensions and angles, intertwine the historical past with the sensual present, mark relationship interdependencies between the places of memory and involve visitors in a direct, low-threshold way through interaction with solar geometry. The urban planning dimensioning takes into account the importance of the topic and the scale of the area/the respective location. The aesthetic language expresses the existential harshness and force of historical events, making the perpetrator’s attitude and victim feeling palpable. The light counter objects form a roof, are flexible anchor points, create microclimatic, sensually and cognitively stimulating spaces for a variety of individual and collective, analog, media and digital interventions, reflections and activities. A variety of light guidance and control variants can be played using a light-shadow plan with narrative dramaturgy.

Out and about in the light 2022, Potsdam

Out and about in the light 2022, Potsdam

On the way in the light. Why, surely! On the third weekend in January, our LIGHT composition “Soundless Music” was performed in downtown Potsdam. With the concept developed specifically for “On the Road in Light 2022”, the center of Potsdam was staged in a composition of colors in the evening hours, from Friday (January 21st) to Monday (January 24th), thus expressing the universal process of THERMODYNAMICS. Starting with shades of blue on Friday and ending with shades of red on Monday, the LIGHT composition worked with 18 buildings, each with 24 light scenarios that harmonize and interact with one another, creating an immersive walk through the “total work of art” of public space, architecture, and light and allow time. Kicking off on Friday, the beauty of the cold winter months was celebrated in calm BLUE and INDIGO combinations, which gave way to the optimistic GREEN of spring on Saturday and was replaced by the WARM summer joy of YELLOW and ORANGE tones on Sunday. The dynamic process concluded on Monday with a rather contemplative backdrop of DARK RED, which was accompanied at the FINALE with lighting moods from all the MAIN COLORS of the color spectrum.

„We did not forget you“. This LIGHT ART campaign was linked to the state capital Potsdam’s desire to convey to its citizens and its cultural institutions that it has not forgotten the importance of CULTURE in the city and the relevance of everyone working in the cultural scene, even in these difficult times. This weekend, everyone celebrated the beauty of life and art in and with (light) culture. The illumination was realized by the following partners: State Capital Potsdam (organizer), P3 Projekt GmbH (organization), Ruairí O’Brien. Lighting design (lighting concept), TLT Event AG (technical implementation) Left: www.ruairiobrien-lichtkunst.de On the way in the light. Why, surely! – Potsdam Marketing and Service GmbH (potsdamtourismus.de) https://www.berlin.de/tourismus/brandenburg/veranstaltungen/4722010-3479097-unterwegs-im-licht-in-potsdam.html Photos 1.7: Alexander Rentsch Photos 2-6.8: Peter Fischer

Speech-light-sound performance

Speech-light-sound performance

“Tocame y te recito – Play me, I’ll write you” The photos show excerpts from the language-light-sound performance TÓCAME Y TE RECITO – PLAY ME, I PERFORM YOU, with Ruairí O’Brien, on September 15th, 7:30 p.m. in the German Hygiene Museum Dresden. Based on texts by the Spanish poet Juan Carlos Valle “Karlotti” and poems by Itha K., spoken by Vanessa Vidal (Spain) and Juan Carlos Valle “Karlotti” (Spain), the musician Günter Heinz created together with Ruairí O’Brien (Light Poetry) a language-sound-light performance of the highest intensity. Photos: Peter Fischer

Slaughterhouse-Five, Messe Dresden

Slaughterhouse-Five, Messe Dresden

Memory wall and information light sculpture The artistically designed information light sculpture/memorial wall “Slaughterhouse Five” is visited every year by tourists from all over the world. In the basement of what was then the slaughterhouse, the American author Kurt Vonnegut – like his protagonist Billy Pilgrim – survived the Allied bombing raid on Dresden on February 13, 1945 as a prisoner of war. Using the multimedia literary sculpture, the viewer can experience the metamorphosis of the city of Dresden. Through the artful layering of drawings, paintings, photos and city map extracts, embedded in a complex grid made of wood and plexiglass, different time levels in the city’s history and at the same time the collage-like nature of the novel become visible. When lit from behind, the structure appears three-dimensional, with light and shadow becoming part of a larger image.

Re-Thinking Bismarck

Re-Thinking Bismarck

The artistic and design concept is an expression of an immersive culture of remembrance that stimulates a productive, critical discourse on different levels about the impact of the colonial-nationalist-ethnicist Bismarck Monument. The spatial light/shadow sculpture intertwines the historical past with the sensual present, marks relationship interdependencies and involves visitors in a direct, low-threshold way through interaction with solar geometry. Light and shadow – reflection, change, time. The object forms an overarching physical and artistic-philosophical roof for the mediation work taking place on site and the examination of Bismarck’s work, the historical context and the previous reception history. The urban planning dimensioning takes into account the importance of the topic and the scale of the area and the location (monument object and park area) in order to create visibility and contextual context. The object creates a long-distance and close-up effect and breaks with conventional expectations. The design language and surprising positioning trigger attention through irritation and thus question the massive presence and emotional impact of the monument. The light/shadow object forms a roof and creates a microclimatic, sensorially and cognitively stimulating space for a variety of individual and collective, analog, media and digital interventions, reflections and activities. When viewed closely, the object forms an immersive time-space-light-human network that offers multi-layered levels of depth and, through interaction with solar geometry, constantly tells new things and allows new things to be discovered.

In der Nahbetrachtung bildet das Objekt ein immersives Zeit-Raum-Licht-Mensch-Geflecht, das vielschichtige Vertiefungsebenen anbietet und durch Interaktion mit Solargeometrie immer wieder von Neuem erzählt und Neues entdecken lässt.

Ein einfaches und großes Element, dessen Dach, Fläche, Scheibe den Einfall des Sonnenlichts blockiert und einen begehbaren, bespielbaren Raum schafft. Dieser mikroklimatische Raum ist abgedunkelt, kälter als die Umgebung; wer hochschaut, kann die Sonne nicht sehen. Dieser Bruch zwischen außen und innen schafft eine unmittelbare, niedrigschwellige physische Zugänglichkeit, schärft Instinkte und Sinne, regt die Aufnahmefähigkeit auf haptischer und kognitiver Ebene an. Das Zusammenwirken von Schatten und Licht ist für jeden Menschen fühlbar. Es öffnet auf physischer und metaphorischer Ebene Empfindens- und Verstehensräume, macht das Gespinst aus Topographie, Geschichte, Absenz, Universalität und sensueller Gegenwart greifbar.

Ein Konvexspiegel in der lichtblockenden Scheibe sammelt Sonnenlicht aus der reflektierten Umgebung und lässt Lichtstrahlen oder Lichtpools über den Boden oder den Verweilraum für Besucher:innen wandern. Durch diese vom Spiegel verursachten Lichtbewegungen können bestimmte historische Momente gegenwärtig gemacht werden.

Der konvexe Spiegel schafft Verbindung / Beziehung zwischen Denkmal, Objekt und Besucher und macht den Besucher zum Teil der Intervention – setzt ihn in Beziehung zu Denkmal, Person, Geschichte, Gegenwart, macht diese Interdependenzen bewusst und schafft so Räume für individuelle Neu-Kontextualisierungen.

Die „verzerrte“ Abbildung des konvexen Spiegels von Bismarckdenkmal und unmittelbarer Umgebung eröffnet universelle Reflexionsmöglichkeiten in der Betrachtung von Personen und geschichtlichen Ereignissen.

Out and about in the light 2020, Potsdam

Out and about in the light 2020, Potsdam

Architectural lighting concept for the center of Potsdam “Soundless Music” The images show excerpts from Ruairí O’Brien’s lighting composition for Potsdam On the Road in Light 2020, including the Brandenburg State Parliament, the Nikolaikirche and the Potsdam Film Museum. “With an authentic concept, high-quality technology and a selective selection, you can achieve more in lighting design. To create poetic and exciting lighting moods, you have to understand how time, space, materials, darkness and light can be brought together and how you can juxtapose them.” Ruairí O’Brien

Microlightsculpture 02

Microlightsculpture 02

Homage to Inger Christensen The Erich Kästner House for Literature, Dresden The octagonal prism of microlightsculpture, a homage to the Danish poet Inger Christensen, symbolizes with its geometry the physical natural elements of sky, earth, fire, water, wind, thunder, lake and mountain. Nuances of light and shadow, space and surface can be experienced. The multi-layered play with perspectives and boundary resolution sensitizes the viewer to an intensive optical experience. The visual labyrinth of the inside and outside world points to relationships between micro and macro, to the polarity of the inscrutability and legibility of art and the world. In daylight, the object can be experienced in a multidimensional way in dialogue with the movement of the sun as a shadow, and in the darkness with artificial light from the core: inside and outside, bottom and top are swapped.

Light sculpture for the Schwerin market square

Light sculpture for the Schwerin market square

microlightsculpture 01 The microlightsculpture in Schwerin was the first in a series of light sculptures that the architect and artist Ruairí O‘ Brien deliberately created using simple means, simple materials and simple construction as a homage to the art of architecture, to the effect of light on people, space and time developed. An object measuring 3 x 3 meters was created for the Schwerin market square, consisting of 3 identical, variably combinable module parts, which in the present composition form a cube space and form a focal point for the lighting theme with a quiet action character. During the day it takes on the function of a shadow caster , in the evening that of an alternator. It subtly reflects the chronology of daily routine and the dramaturgy of life and ergonomically illustrates the relationship between micro and macro scales.

Leipzig, information sculpture “89”

Leipzig, information sculpture “89”

20 years of peaceful revolution – information sculpture / exhibition Client: City of Leipzig / Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH This spatial information sculpture was created to mark the anniversary of the peaceful revolution. Boards provide information about the historical event in autumn 1989, about the Leipzig Light Festival and the artists who took part in it. The sculpture thus forms a connecting element to the current installations taking place in public spaces and informs visitors about the historical events of 1989.