OSRAM Art Projects

Seven Screens is the name of the OSRAM's new art project. Seven ultra-modern masts near OSRAM's headquarters in Munich will be providing a platform for light-related art in the public domain. The opening artwork on November 8 is by the artistic trio of Mader|Stublic|Wiermann.

Mader, Stublic and Wiermann have already caused quite a stir this year with “twists and turns”, the display for the Uniqa building in Vienna.The “spots” media façade display at the start of next year in Berlin is a continuation of their lighting installations in the public arena.They have set high standards with the first show on the Seven Screens in Munich.“Reprojected” is a location and media-specific examination of our visual perception.The artists create a virtual space around the installation of the lighting masts.What is assumed to be an external light source seems to spotlight the masts.The surrounding space and the architecture of the Osram building are included in the perception.The impression is one of simultaneously being in a real and virtual space, with the masts acting as the interfaces between these two worlds.In their complex mutual programming they suggest an artificial reality which lies not beyond but inside the physical reality.Computer-generated people stand in front of this light and are displayed as shadows on the masts before they disappear into the shadows of the surrounding space.

Light in its functional and increasingly aesthetic effect is changing the appearance of cities.The fascination of artificial light as an artistic material and medium in art, design and architecture is based on the fundamental relevance of light to human perception.“Lighting conditions are crucial to the way in which we perceive the world”, said Dr. Christian Schoen, the curator of Osram Art Projects.Spaces are made visible by light.Light also enables people to see spaces that exist only because of light and not because they are enclosed by architectural forms.Light is essential to create, perceive and even reproduce images, for example in cinemas or on video.But with the help of the latest LED lighting technology the light itself has now become an image medium.This has become reality with the Seven Screens project and the “reprojected” display from the artistic trio of Holger Mader, Alexander Stublic and Heike Wiermann.

Once or twice a year, artists will be invited by Osram to develop works of art on a local theme.As a platform, the Seven Screens place enormous demands on the artists.They must deal with seven structural elements that relate to the architecture of Osram’s headquarters, built in 1965 by Walter Henn.The masts also offer an unusual image format which is independent for each mast but which can also be viewed as part of the whole.