New Light on the Main
Parallel to the world's leading trade fair for lighting and building technology, the Luminale will take place from 18 to 23 March 2018 in Frankfurt/Main. Founded in 2002, this year the Luminal event, which is open to the public, seeks to re-position itself as a “Biennial for Light Art and Urban Design”. It likewise aspires to kindle an interdisciplinary discourse on cities and the future at key locations in Frankfurt und Offenbach. For the first time Luminale will also boast a festival center, namely Instituto Cervantes. This year the program of international light art featuring performances, light sculptures, video works and events will be presented in five sections each with its own key focus, namely “Art”, “Solutions”, “Study”, “Community”, and “Better City”. A total of 140 projects will be shown. For example, Philipp Geist will transform the historical facades of the Römerberg into a walk-through light installation while Italian design studio Karmachina has created a video-mapping show that narrates the various phases of Alte Oper’s history. In this way, the concert hall built in a neo-Renaissance style celebrates its Luminale premiere. The “Light-Walk” is an inner-city tour and an ideal way to gain a first impression of the numerous projects on display, taking participants round 35 works covering all five sections.
The Luminale festival light installations provide a new view of the city: For example, the “Light On” project by Jens Schader employs illuminated objects and elements bring light to parts of Ben-Gurion-Ring, a large 1970s housing estate. In some cases, visitors can interact with the light art: for example, on the facade of Atelierfrankfurt where artist group Meso is showing its “Popcorn” projection that is driven by sound sensors: When visitors clap their hands the popcorn machine goes into action. The more visitors clap, the more popcorn is made. (am)
