We were today at the red laser installation by artist Margareta Hesse in Berlin Spandau at the Projektraum Historischer Keller. It is, as the name says, in the basement. The rooms are kept completely dark and the only light sources are the red laser rays that reflect onto small mirrors strategically positioned in order to mark the rooms contours and sometimes create frames. The visitor is able to walk through the laser beams which are roughly at 50cm from the floor and there’s some mist in the air too, so the laser rays get even more visible. Besides that there are two distinct sound tracks accompanying the installation: one with nice and calm music and another with a more techy noise which make the visit even more interesting.
For safety reasons, visitors receive a torch at the entrance so that the sometimes quite low rooms and gangways get slightly more visible. Ouch!
We also had the chance to have a nice chat with the person taking care of the visitors there and he told us that the artwork needs to be readjusted every week. The laser beams and reflections need to be precisely positioned to work correctly, and everytime they switch on the installation there are a few milimeter shift in the ray, so that at the end of the week some rays are not working as they were supposed to be.
Regardless of the slight shift during maintenance, the installation is quite impressive. Hope to see more of that kind of light art sometime soon in Berlin.
The Lighting Tips 