ZUM LICHT

In 2018, Prof. Felix Müller and the Berlin-based light artist Nils-R. Schultze won the Light-Art-Competition BTHVN 2020 in honor of the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven, with their light installation series ZUM LICHT.

The task was, to tie in with the musical work of Beethoven and to establish a connection to his birthplace Bonn. A transformation, though not to the extent that the city has changed since Beethoven’s work, is the goal. The urban spaces are to be experienced in a new way, and new and different (light) images are to be created in the minds of the visitors, which will remain in their memories. The short days and long nights in Beethoven’s month of birth—December—form the stage for our nightly illumination of the city. The pictures from Bonn go out into the world and at the same time should be shown, that Beethoven’s musical work is present in the world and still gives impulses. The illuminations follow the basic idea of the lighting project, to unite a wide range of different appearing installations into one overall picture in the urban space of Bonn.

The ten installations are distributed like a gallery course in the city center and are never more than four minutes’ walk apart from each other. So the audience walks through the city, as the young Beethoven could have done 230 years ago.

The artists offer installations with a long-distance effect, installations that relate to specific urban spaces, installations that can be experienced by the senses, experimental objects, and independent light sculptures.

Based on the artists more than eight years of experience with light objects in the urban space of Berlin in the winter months, they made the decision, to propose a mix of conventional light or conventional light with simple controls and only a few projections. The light objects should be placed in the urban space, that they are well spread in the city center and generate a wide variety of images. The light installations should be within walking distance. The audience is invited to walk from installation to installation. In December 2019, the Bonn city center was filled with ten large light installations. A catalog was be published in 2020.

ZUM LICHT

Artists: Nils-R. Schultze & Felix Müller
Prize Offerer: Beethoven Jubiläums GmbH
Jury: Christian Lorenz (Artist Director Beethoven Jubiläums GmbH), Rein Wolfs (Intendant Bundeskunsthalle Bonn), Stephan Berg (Intendant Kunstmuseum Bonn), Christina Vegh (Kestnergesellschaft Hannover), John Jaspers (Director Lichtkunstzentrum Unna), Bastiaan Schoof (Artistic and technical producer Amsterdam Light Festival)
Awards: “Gold Winner” Muse Design Award 2020 NewYork, Lighting Design Award 2020 London (nomination), German Design Award, “Special Mention” for Light Installations for the Beethoven-Year 2020 in the category Excellent Architecture—Lighting Design