gravitymax in transition

cardboard installations in public spaces, by clemens behr

MEDIA FACADES FESTIVAL EUROPE 2010 will explore the networked possibilities of urban screens and media facades via internet and new technologies on a European level.
The format of the MEDIA FACADES FESTIVAL reflects on the increasing presence of massive-infrastructures with digital visual elements in public spaces while investigating their communicative function in the urban environment.

The festival will show especially developed art projects in Europe-wide Joint Broadcasting Events which aspire to share dreams of the different cities and report about local issues and exchange peoples’ stories and ideas. The media facades will be transformed into local stages and open a global window for cultural and societal processes to create a dialogue and connect the local public virtually with the other places throughout Europe.

Its long-term vision is to be a catalyst for the creation of a sustainable and transportable structure where artists, cultural professionals, arts organizations, cultural institutions, governmental bodies, private and commercial businesses, media and the general public, within Europe and beyond, can interact through the development of a new cultural communication format in the public space.

joint broadcasting events from august 7 – september 12. finissage live streaming: october 2. more info here.

via transmediale.

Primal Source by Usman Haque was an all-night performance/installation brought to life through the active participation of festival-goers at Glow 08. Making use of a large-scale outdoor waterscreen/mist projection system, the mirage-like installation glowed with colours and ebullient patterns created in response to the competing and collaborative voices, music and screams of people nearby.

for 1 week last year, french art duo hehe (helen evans and heiki hansen) illuminated the night sky of helsinki with green laser outlines of the emission of a power plant, literally highlighting the energy consumption of local residents. residents were asked to lower their energy use and observe the visible changes. nuage vert (green cloud) has won several environmental art awards. read more on the nuage vert blog:

Nuage Vert is a communal event for the area of Ruoholahti, which anticipates esoteric cults centred on energy and transforms an active power plant into a space for art, a living factory. In tandem, as a reversal of conventional roles whereby the post-industrial factory is turned into space for culture, Kaapeli (the cultural factory) becomes the site of operation and Salmisaari (the industrious factory) becomes the site of spectacle