Artificial Light
Artificial Light

Artificial Light

1997 – video installation for one monitor

A projection screen made of plastic is stretched between the ceiling and the floor. One sees a burnt out light bulb hanging from the ceiling and nothing else. A man with a ladder comes into the picture. He climbs it and exchanges the burnt out light bulb for a new one. The projected/virtual light bulb not only illuminates the scene, but also the real space. The process is constantly repeated. Different people bring in the ladder, change the bulb, bring the ladder away again and switch the light off again before the next person takes over the same activity.

Ideally, the light bulbs of at least four "artificial light" projections should illuminate a dark room. The rattling of the ladder, the people's footsteps, the light being turned off and on fill the space and merge into a sound and visual piece.

This work was first on view in the hollow inner space of the Deutz Bridge in Cologne from 7 - 19 November 1997.

Actors: Wolfgang Fischer, Klaus Gasteier, Merel Mirage, Susanne Ritter, Iris Sofka, Dieter Steinbach