Not safe to the extreme

RE.LIGHT, Regensburg, 12.–22.3.2026

relight-regensburg.de

The biannual light art festival’s first edition in 2024 was a very good start, and 2026 edition, again curated by Nika Perne, shows what might be the direction I’m hoping RE.LIGHT will take. 

Regular people of Regensburg
Katja Heitmann: Perpetuum

Simplicity and other great ideas

Many of my favourite artworks of the festival had a clear and simple idea, realised with flashy technical stuff. Anyhow, the flashy stuff was used as a fitting and well considered material in service of the idea, not a show-off in its own right. In cases like these, the temptation to add a snazzy gimmick to the artwork just because you can, is massive. My highest respect for these artists that had the integrity not to do so.

I’ve seen Margareta Hesse’s No Barrier several times and it keeps bringing me immense joy, especially the fence-y part of it. A barrier that disappears as soon as you dare to walk through it – such an ultimately simple and impressive idea. Looks good, too. It's also interactivity on a very rudimentary level; just walking is enough. However, the sharp red laser lines in the haze do look so solid that it required some bravery from the audience to cross those lines.

Simplicity was the strength of Alessandro Lupi’s Antiego, too. The mirror that doesn’t show your face was, a tad ironically, the selfie hit of the festival. The artwork created a very specific anxiety of not seeing one’s face where it should be, while everyone else was visible just fine. A very specific and condensed form of FOMO, which after a while, though, became quite liberating.

Katja Heitmann’s Perpetuum has a simple idea, too, a collection of people’s movements, but the implementation was more multifaceted. The well-orchestrated imagery was projected on walls, presented on fancy transparent screens, projecting both the audiences shadows and filmed material. I especially appreciated the unapologetic and unshocking everydayness of the people appearing in the videos. 

Will the laser slice them?
Margareta Hesse: No barrier

I lost myself, which is nice
Alessandro Lupi: Antiego

People in layers
Katja Heitmann: Perpetuum

Distracted focus on my part

The main point about Sebastian Kite’s Inner Time for me was the light it shed on its surroundings, sweeping the courtyard of Thon-Dittmer-Palais, and how the audience reacted to it. Which was by standing still, staring at and enjoying the brightness. And while doing so, forming a mesmerizing shadow play on the walls and ground around them. There was this certain meta level in the artwork, watching people watching the artwork, thus becoming a part of it. The whole hoo-ha of the machinery rotating the light, looking like a movie set from Dune going Mad Max, just felt a tad unnecessary, even though I do realise that was the thing I was supposed to look at.

Basically, I hated cabosanroque & Studio Animal’s Trànsit. I did like the setting, a matrix of traffic lights, and expected something Totally New. Alas, it was mathematical flickering all over again, although with unexpected device. Headache in the form of light. Still, I’m so, so happy to see artworks that are not meant to just please the audience (mind you, there were many people who did enjoy the piece). This is exactly a kind of risk that festivals should be taking, instead of playing it nice and safe to the extreme. 

Nice shadows, eh?
Sebastian Kite: Inner Time

A traffic police's nightmare
cabosanroque & Studio Animal: Trànsit

A three course mapping meal

The choice of projection mapping pieces in the festival was almost a pedagogical one, presenting three quite different artworks. They all had very different approaches to their canvasses: serving, commenting and dominating. 

Metatecture obviously had the architecture as the starting point, which is often case when it comes to projection mapping. I’m not really sure what to think of the voluntary servitude to architecture that so, so many mappers have lately expressed to me, but Daniel Rossa is a good servant, doting on the details of the façade, and caressing it with colour blocks of a most frugal graphic design style. There were the mandatory tiles popping out of the façade sequence, which always hurts me a little, but those were to be expected.

Liudmila Siewerski’s Zeitrisse was one of the bold moves of the festival. Let’s start with what is not there. There is no rush, no horror vacui nor material for ten artworks squeezed in one. Instead, Siewerski’s imagery is peaceful, patient and breathing. Her approach to architecture is one of a researcher’s. In addition to bringing out the shapes of Neupfarrkirche today, the artwork spans centuries and the whole city of Regensburg in form of archival images.

I would have said that projecting on leafless trees is a huge mistake, but Javier Riera’s The Luminous Grove proved me oh so very wrong. The bare trees became a mesh instead of a solid surface, making the projection appear on layers, and making its black more of a void than just a lack of colour. For a semi abstract black and white geometric material Riera used, this was a spot on combination, making the masses of light move, appear and disappear like choreographed ghosts. Mesmerising and beautiful!

The facade crumbles, as one does
Daniel Rossa: Metatecture

A breeze of light and a brave moment of near-emptiness
Liudmila Siewerski: Zeitrisse

Geometry meets nature
Javier Riera: The Luminous Grove

Women not doing cute stuff

You know how flowers have been a conveniently cute subject for female artists throughout the Western art history (if women are mentioned in the first place)? Well, Nika Erjavec’s Transmitted was quite flowery, yes, but not cute at all. The trembling twigs unsynchronised with the light flickering in lightning speed, made one see colours like in a broken TV. Quite a punk approach to flowers. Much appreciated.

Vanessa Hafenbrädl’s No Flag, with speaking female heads projected on flags, was as political as it gets. Even if I didn’t understand the German words, I could tell we are talking feminism now. The combination of determined women projected on flags under the mercy of wind was interesting indeed.

And then some beauty of dysfunction. Slabs of fluorescent tubes flickered like fluorescents do in movies, right before something horrible happens, which gave Livia Ribichini’s Sagittarius A a somewhat ominous aura to the artwork. A very in your face piece, not giving a damn about prettiness.

A new kind of a Twiggy
Nika Erjavec: Transmitted

Talking in the air
Vanessa Hafenbrädl: No Flag

Nothing horrible happened, I'm afraid
Livia Ribichini: Sagittarius A

More to hate, pretty please

Not all the artworks in the festival were specifically rough, political or straightforward, but there were many enough to see a pattern. And it is exactly what we need: an edgy punk light festival, and RE.LIGHT could be just that. 

I sure hope I’ll find more artworks to hate in the next edition!

No Complaints about the Elephant´s Ass

Essen Light Festival 2022 leans on projections and led-lights’ limitless colour scheme.

Essen Light Festival is what I’d call a high street festival. Obviously, the route follows the main shopping street, and there is something for everyone. The pro of this style is that the route is easy to follow by just checking the map once and following others. The con is that the route is quite light-polluted and busy and gives no peace to immerse in the artworks. Usually there is no artistic coherency, either. But there might be a late night shopping event to compensate that.

There was no certain theme in Essen, either. The artworks were mainly varying style of projections, easy on the eye, and light-artworks based on or decorated with bright and/or ever changing colours. One thing that was paid attention to, was the use of electricity in the circumstances of today. This is a discussion that’s unavoidable concerning light festivals. I’m biased, of course, but it seems to me that most of the time the cancelling of festivals is a panic reaction for publicity reasons, which helps just a little or nothing at all. As was said in the Essen Light Festival brochure: "You use more electricity if you stay home". Well put. 

The halos were planned for people of various heights. Appreciated!

Angels of Freedom by Merav Eitan and Gaston Zahr is an artwork I’ve been using as an example of simple and practical interactivity in my light art lectures. It was pretty nice to see it live, and in frequent use – everybody seems to want a halo! Also, it’s one of the insta-friendliest artworks I’ve seen. Even I was tempted, I admit, despite the fact that I hate insta-friendliness.

The face in its simple phase

Quite often I wonder why projection mapping artworks art stuffed with everything and its cousin, instead of studying one idea at a time. Or, at least, less than ten. The same goes with Radu Ignat’s Facelessmen. The work includes pretty interesting concept and ideas – I especially enjoyed the play with different faces – but also some technical show-off that diminished its distinctiveness. 

The first elephant in the festival

Stephane Masson, on the other hand, did concentrate on one thing, that being unexpected things in a cage in his I Caught a... I love the idea and the simple everyday magic in its realisation, even though I doubt the necessity of the blinking light strips of the cage. Then again, the artwork was in a busy corner, maybe it needed some bling to compete with the environment.

The second elephant in the festival

Bibi is probably the most adorable light artist I’ve seen (via Zoom, but still), and so are his artworks, usually huge and colorful lego-like animals, made of recycled plastic cans. Like Eléphant Rouge. Especially when seen live. His works are so simple and untroubled that I just can’t but like them. Usually, I wouldn’t be too happy about the view from my hotel room being an elephant’s ass, but in this case, I didn’t complain.

My Room with the View

Children's drawings are a big hit in this season.
Here's the Essen version, Imagine by Daniel and Carina Kurniczak. 

Panta Rhei Meanders Through Space

It is quite logical that a waterworks/energy company, having its anniversary, would arrange an art exhibition, concentrating on light as a material and water and time as themes. And that's what RheinEnergie did. The result is exhibition Panta rhei (29.4.–25.9.2022), where time, water and light intermingle effortlessly in the beautiful old waterworks building. 

Molitor & Kuzmin underground

There were two projection artworks, quite different visually, both dealing with rippling water. In François Schwamborn’s Nervous Water we see a water surface, reflecting greenery around it, in a very slow motion. It’s hard to tell if the material is filmed, painted of computer generated, since the slowness of it sheds the characteristics of rippling water and renders the material beautifully impressionist. 

Claude Monet would have loved this

Hartung & Trenz had a another piece called Panta rhei in Brixen Light Art Festival last spring, so they're familiar with the theme. Will get back to that festival later. The artist duo use projected texts regularly in their work, and Momentum is no exception. The words “kinetai kai pei ta panta” (another version of "everything moves") are projected to the wall, building up a meandering river of words. I did catch some other words as well, like “lager”, but that might have been just a premonition, see "Touristy Tips" at the end. The ripple here was caused by reflecting water pools and dropping water, but also by the viewers walking past the projectors. Interactivity!

Words rippling

Bastian Hoffmann’s two minimalistic water sculptures (both called Untitled) were the most concrete handling of water in the exhibition. A stable water jet, seemingly defying gravity and disturbance, disappeared in a hole, forming a glass-like arch. The simplicity and serenity of the artworks made a great impression to me. There really wasn’t anything to show off, just the idea. For once, I didn’t touch the artwork. But I really, really wanted to. 

Eero Saarinen would have loved this

Mischa Kuball, on the other hand, dealt with water in a more figurative way, quite unlike his other works I've seen. In Objects, artefacts and other damages abandoned historical and contemporary objects float in a long, video-projected river, while it turns all murky. The murkiness starts from a coffee box, which I, as an avid coffee drinker, take a little offense of. 

Yes, blame the coffee drinkers

Mirrors and infinity rooms are a big trend in light art at the moment. Huge trend. Remembering LUX: New Wave of Contemporary Art with its several reflections-based ideas I wondered if there’s still something new to it. Surprisingly, Jacqueline Hen’s super simple infinity grid Light High went back to basics, and it was quite refreshing in my simple mind. Even the slight ripple in lights in the start and end of the loop felt a tad unnecessary show-off.

Know your coordinates

Molitor & Kuzmin had a take on time and moving. Fluorescents en masse tend to be impressive and that’s what Molitor & Kuzmin went with. Which is no surprise, they are masters of fluorescent heaps after all. The obviously site-specific Scratch fills a pit and the space above it with rigorously organized fluorescents, and on the bottom of the artwork there are discs spinning, with “time” or “zeit” written on them with neon. Yes, everything moves, and time especially so.

Time is spinning

The route was carefully planned, meandering through the building in an unexpected but comprehensive order, revealing a nook (and artwork) after another. The artworks are in unity with the space, rather than objects scattered into an exhibition hall. I’m really glad that the space is not stuffed with artworks, the ones there are, are quite enough. The exhibition is coherent thematically, but diverse in form. I hope there will be other light based exhibitions in the space, it is really apt to it!

Touristy Tip

It's hard to imagine that a Finnish power company would have a bar of their own, but that seems to be no problem in Germany: there’s a really nice beer garden in the back yard. 

 

Light Art in Unna, Bonus Art Nearby

Unna, Germany, July 6th 2016, and several other cities and dates

For a light art enthusiast, a visit to Centre for International Light Art in Unna is like Himalaya for mountain climbers, just not dangerous at all and really easy to get to. Light art is usually quite approachable, so I strongly recommend the place for all art minded people – and those too, who have heard about art but haven't dared to try it yet. It's a good destination for professionals and beginners alike. Even for kids. Professional and beginner kids.

Unna is a nice small town, easily reachable, surrounded by other culturally inclined cities like Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, Essen, Münster and Cologne. In Unna, there really isn't much to see in addition to Light Art Centre. I know, I asked, and was offered a straightforward answer: Nothing. So, it's a good chance to include some nearby art to your one day itinerary.

Düsseldorf has a wonderful metro line with art included from the beginning of the planning of the stations. A refreshing metro trip break on your way to Unna is highly recommended. Münster, on the other hand hosts an acclaimed art festival every ten years. Unfortunately, the next one is nine years away, but save the date, it's definitely worth it. Some of the art works from festivals past are permanently retained in Münster, so there's a lot to see even between festivals. In Cologne, there's a superb Sculpture park and a lot of small galleries to visit.

Düsseldorf metro station – no commercials, just art

Detail of Hito Steyerl's piece in Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017.
Says all I want to say about the festival.

Sou Fujimoto's magrittesque work in Skulpturenpark Köln

The Light Art Centre's permanent collection has an all stars cast, including works from James Turrell, Olafur Eliasson, Christian Boltanski, Keith Sonnier and Brigitte Kowanz. The works are skillfully curated to the Centre's premises, a former brewery with some of the old walls and constructions still visible. With light art it's pretty hard to hide the surrounding space, and here it has been included instead. Especially in Keith Sonnier's piece the space plays an integral part. There's also temporal exhibitions on display, presenting themed group exhibitions, new names and known masters of light art.

Joseph Kosuth's work welcomes the visitors
with a text by Heinrich Heine

Mischa Kuball shatters the writing and
stops the speed with his mirror balls

Keith Sonnier's neon are boldly colourful and one with space

François Morellet is known for his elegant, space defining neon works

At the time of my visit there was a temporal exhibition called Switch on display, by the students of Hochschule für Bildende Künste Saarbrücken. Very promising students.

Maria Elena Schmidt (detail)

Ingo Wendt

Daniel Hausig

Nicole Fleisch

The visit to the exhibitions is by guided tour only. There are three tours daily from Tuesday to Friday and six on weekends and holidays. You cannot reserve a ticket for the tour, just show up and hope there are places left. Usually there are. The tour takes about an hour and a half and at the time of writing costs 10 euros.