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.