REACTIVE SPARKS
Munich, 2008
Placed on a green area that separates the Osram company headquarters from the Mittlerer Ring, one of the busiest roads in Munich, seven LED steles catch the eye of the road users.
Reactive Sparks was the first responsive, temporary artwork for this permanent installation of “Seven Screens“. It was installed between November 2007 and April 2008.
Its concept was based on the translation of kinetic energy to light. Reactive Sparks reacted to the traffic in that it reflected the incessant flow of passing cars and visualised the energy emitted by them. Each vehicle was registered by a camera-tracking system and triggered a light wave on the steles. The waves followed the vehicles in real-time over the entire 70 metres between the first and the last stele. The constant flow of light symbolised the space's activity.
The artwork also served as a visual collective memory. The light trails added up in the course of the day, growing steadily brighter as the number of cars increased. Thus the gentle haze of the morning light turned into a bright storm of light by the time darkness descended on the city.
The artwork's interaction with the immediate environment created a direct link between the drivers and the location. Passing drivers could see that their movements made them part of the artwork, increasing their awareness of the place and their involvement in the problems that beset it.
