Braunschweig Summit

The light installation "Braunschweig Summit“ visualises a cartographic network on the surface of the Portico pond. White ships‘ bumpers and flashing signal lamps denote street intersections and forks in the roads, while pulsing buoys of neon tubes mark the locations of the bridges across the Oker. Vertical bars of light, they communicate the metaphor sensitive sensors on moving ground and at the same time have a bridging function between the Stygian waters and the depth of the night.
Light buoys resembling assemblages of shining water lilies denote architectural highlights in the urban structure. Sacral buildings appear as illuminated crosses. In the warp and weft of a thousand stars, a fabric is spun of the space and time of the global heavens. On the basis of the fixed, earthbound points of light which act as interfaces to form a map, tracing the identity of a city.
The atmospherically charged rooms correspond with the aphorism of Wilhelm Raabe, poet and honorary citizen of the city of Braunschweig, and are to be understood as a reminiscence and endorsing memento.

The words shine down in neon script from above shaped as a narrow neon contour of the capitals on the portico columns. In the context of this temporary installation, the topographic points are intended as "summits“, and the spaces between as "paths“. Commu-ni¬cation and orientation are the motivating thoughts behind the installation, a homage to Hermes, the god of paths and crossings.

The title of the installation, "Braunschweig Summit“, is meant both as an irritant and a poetic shift of focus. As darkness falls, a delicate tracery of glittering lights unfolds across the Portico pond, a living, breathing atmosphere of expectation. Only as visitors stroll along the edge of the pond, taking in the installation from all angles, can they appreciate the full nocturnal panorama.
As the darkness deepens, this cartographic constellation is transformed into a visual concert of moving points in space.
The soundtrack to this aquatic light installation is provided by a tonal collage knit from the carillons of the nine churches whose bells comprise the sonic backdrop of the city.