Inverted Light Simulation In A Gallery Space

light sensor, neon light rail

On a rooftop outside the gallery, a sensor is installed and measures the light intensity. The signal is sended into the darkened gallery space. Here the inverse light value will dim or brighten the existing light rails attached to the ceiling of the gallery. Now light will be dark, dark will be light.

Das Numen

Markus Hoffmann, Felix Kiessling, Julian Charrière, Andreas Greiner

401 Contemporary, Berlin 2011

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DAS NUMEN DAY LIGHT does not exist without an observer. The perception of the individual who experiences the installation, his thoughts and questions, observations and references, his sense of doubt and joy, disbelief and wonder – each and all are an integral part of the work, as essential as the light fixtures, sensors, cables and coverings that constitute its physical aspect.

The observer who wanders into this space may notice the changing light intensities and may become aware of the time lapses in between. The more one is able to acknowledge the duration of real time and to display a willingness to wait and observe, to sharpen the senses and create a chance for the infinitesimal to slide in, the stronger the bond with the work will be. DAS NUMEN DAY LIGHT allots the eternal, exhaustless phenomena of Light and Time a firmer place in the realm of consciousness. 

DAS NUMEN are a collective which in their admiration for natural phenomena accept these elements as co-authors of their creative work. Respect for nature as well as an understanding of the mutual dependencies between the co-authors has lead to a firm belief in the necessity of sustainable behaviour, not as a fad but as a conscious condition for life and living. 

With their space-related, conceptual yet subtly poetic creations in which the ambivalence of control and non control is demonstrated while triggering strong emotional transformations, DAS NUMEN act as a catalyst. The playful narrative and the still spaces evoked by this collaboration contribute to a form of re-contextualisation which may be able to (re)awaken the awareness and sensibilities of the viewer/participant and (re)activate his relationship to the mystical.
The combination of senses and the sciences embodied in their work invites the viewer/participant to interpersonal exchange and contemplation as he is being confronted with the explicit existence of an environment which had only lingered in the depths of unconsciousness before. 
Now the formidable has been perceived within the existing. Consciousness has been affected irrevocably. Change may set in.

press release 401 Contemporary