When looking for inspiration regarding what to project onto our structure, I recalled an event which recently took place in my hometown, Prague. I heard about it only vaguely, as I was abroad, however I managed to Google the project’s website. Named Signal, the crowdfunded event is a festival of light, lasting about three days during which historically or culturally important buildings are turned after sunset into “canvases” and are devoted to artists’ imagination. Besides videomapping, there are also some light and interactive installations rethinking the relationship of light and the public space. Having studied the website, it became apparent that Prague is by no means unique city in celebrating light – in fact, there exists International Lightfestival Organisation of which Signal is an honourable member. However, apart from Jerusalem all the remaining cities are european even though I found out that, for instance, lightfestival takes place likewise in New York City.
I did not have the chance to witness the festival with my own eyes, however, Singal offers a lot of material online. A lightshow that immediately caught my attention was on the Church of Saint Ludmila. Here my fascination is caused by what the building represents. I, unfortunately, can not see the entire projection, however, I would suspect there is a similar link as was the case with Istanbul’s Yekpare. There, the railway station on which Istanbul is projected as the connecting city between East and West was chosen for it’s symbolism – train station as “the crossroad of the East and West civilization” (Ekim) and the East and West world.
Another absolutely astonishing project was the transformation of the Prague’s Eiffel Tower into a medouse. However, despite there is a description on the website, since the exponent is visible almost anywhere from the city, it is much more open for various interpretation. The way I saw the project is the embodiment of the surveillance fears. The idea that the state uses the futuristic base which is capable of beaming light into every street’s corner is captured by the following pictures. It could also resonate the fears of terrorist attack in a way that the tower could be used in such manner in case of emergency.
Before the festival, the tower also served as a “barometer” representing the collected funds in the crowdfunding campaign.
The creativity that forms this event is illustrated in the fact that not only permanent buildings are utilized but also artists create temporary venues such as this dome. The only problem with such is the capacity and therefore this was the only installation where admission was collected, somehow damaging the noble idea of enriching the public space and providing city-wide installation. In the words of the author, the dome bring to mind some synthesis between church cupolas and a planetarium.
One of the things I really appreciate about Signal is that it gives an opportunity to see our cities in a different light. For instance, the Old Town Square, the tourist hub that is better avoided by the locals, loses the monotonicity of its light atmosphere simply by making one of the building to stand out. Secondly, in light of the course’s second week, it is wonderful to have the basic idea of the methods and techniques that make this possible and one really appreciate the precision of the mapping on the large-scale objects. And while we have not used any inspiration directly, the study of signal helped me to develop a framework in which to perceive on-to building projection. Lastly, the combination of the projected medium with the city’s architecture adds additional value in comparison when evaluated separately. “Projection can be a tool to help buildings speak their stories” (MUP). I believe that Signal makes this possible for the city as a whole.