CONNECTING THE DOTS
“Light is Life!”
Rationale
GLOW 2020 took place from 12 to 14 November during the Covid19 epidemic. If 2020 has made us realise anything, it is just how much of life’s purpose and pleasure comes from relationships and human connections. We need people around us; it’s just the way we’re built. The buzz, the joy, the community, those we love. Close by and far away. Visible and out of sight. We need light, we need life. Spatially or in a private circle. We translated that as light that everyone needs. Because Light is Life! It’s important to remember that we are not alone. To remember that there are others just like us in our building, in our street, in our town, village or city. In our country. In our world And to celebrate that we are all connected.
And what better place in which and from which to share this message than Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The city which, over 15 years, has connected millions of visitors through the internationally acclaimed GLOW light art festival. Not this year though – GLOW was cancelled, like so much else. Connecting the Dots
But forget that for a moment. We turned this around and created something unforgettable. A one-off, magical moment that took the festival’s “light is life” spirit and translated it to a special edition. An artwork for the people and city of Eindhoven. And for the citizens of the world. A thank you for 15 fantastic years. And a commitment to many more to come. An artwork that came to people and connected them without anyone having to leave their homes. From 12 to 14 November Eindhoven was a living, global symbol of connection, reconnection and hope.
Connecting the Dots was a city-wide project and worldwide livestream with only two central elements. First, the creation of a sea of beautiful red dots floating and dancing on the wind throughout the city. 850 LED-powered lamps mounted inside red helium balloons. This element was the idea of light artists Ivo Schoofs and Pépé Heijnen from Kinetic Humor. They also developed and built the light units and the balloon handling.
The second element of this unique artwork was a spectacular blue night sky – a blue dome projection by Finnish light artist Kari Kola. An up-lifting warm-blue blanket that wrapped around and embraced you. The result was a beautiful blue sky speckled with fixed and floating red dots, lighting up the city from the inside out to create an unforgettable, moving experience that everyone could enjoy. Just a celebration of light, life and connection for you to enjoy above, around and beyond.
CONNECTING THE DOTS, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Connecting the Dots was, on a much smaller scale,
presented at the Visual Festival in Joensuu, Finland.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The work of Ivo Schoofs (1972), is a celebration of movement in its most natural occurrence; based on natural and physical phenomena, gravity, heat, light, friction and wonder. The work offers the spectator(s), through large-scale audio-visual installations, an experience to return to the base of the forces of natural movement. Technology and science are made visible and sometimes, if possible, comprehensive. The black boxes are opened, the oil can be smelled and the gears are rotating. New sensory experiences and insights are formed upon a base of nature itself.
Pepe Heijnen (1978) is interested in connecting technology and art. Since childhood, he has been working with cables, ropes, and other connections. As a broadly trained electrical engineer in high and low voltage, he specializes in electronics and automation. Due to his wonder for machinery and motion, physics, lightning, and the world of Nikola Tesla, he is fascinated by tying up technical loose ends in art, fiction, and experience. Pepe has created several works for GLOW and other light art festivals.
Kari Kola
I’ve been interested in light for as long as I can remember. Light is everywhere and it affects the world and our daily lives in many ways. I’m from Finland and here the autumns and the winters last long and these seasons are very dark. I wanted to teach myself to use light to be able to utilize the darkness that surrounds me during those seasons. That’s why I became who I am. A Light Artist.
I have worked with light for over 20 years and I have worked in over 2,000 projects in a leading role. I started with theatre, dance and performing arts as a light designer, then i did exhibitions and worked over 250-projects with different symphonic orchestras. After these i did lots of events, operas and special projects. It started to be more and more intriguing to work outside on extreme conditions and use use light in central role of the project, to create light-art. www.karikola.com
