Mul: Data-based dialogues. But then again, without poetry, what would the bridge bridge?

Amsterdam Light & Projection Mapping Festival

Nov. 30, 2017, Jan. 21, 2018. Amsterdam. More info.

During 53 consecutive days, digital artworks illuminated the center of Amsterdam. 36 artworks - exclusively designed for this sixth edition.

Ai Weiwei and the British artist Cecil Balmond. Visitors can walk, cycle or take a boat ride along the festival's two exhibition sites, both on land and on the canals. 

The water exhibition consists of 21 artworks on and around the canals in the historical centre of Amsterdam. For the first time, the land exhibition - 15 artworks - take place on Marineterrein Amsterdam on the theme: ‘Existential’.

Main works to be noted (not forgettingworks by Ai Weiwei and Cecil Balmond):

Geert Mul - For over 25 years Mul has been exploring the possibilities of poetry in the language of new (data-based) media. The work Data-based dialogues for algorithmic landscapes, presented in Amsterdam xplores the concepts of the ‘I’ and the ‘Other’ in the context of a Hollywood movie-text database. The work consists of a selection of movie quotes in the form of audio samples that contain the words I and You. The samples were used to create dialogues and monologues. The dialogues and monologues are ‘subtitled’; creatively text animated.

Quistrebert Brothers : Stripe5

The Quistrebert brothers (Florian and Michael) won the Award for Stripe5, "as demonstrating the best use of technology and the location around the theme of ‘Bridging the Gap". Read more. The artistic director of the Festival comments“ The artwork answers the question presented by the challenges of projecting onto a large surface, and reflects on art disciplines such as ‘opart’ and early abstract cinema.”

Other finalists are
- Telcosystems & Spatial Media Laboratories (Gideon Kiers, David Kiers and Lucas van der Velden).
- Alida Dors & Manuel Rodrigues with Close Up
- Eder Santos with  Call waiting

For its 2018-2019 edition, the Festival is looking for creative interpretations of the theme 'The Medium is the Message'. A modern day evaluation of this famous one-liner raises questions about the powerful influence of (new) media. And when it comes to light as a medium, several specific, interesting issues come into play. 

For instance, what kinds of messages does the medium light transmit nowadays? In an era of fake news and alternative facts, can light maintain its objectivity? How does it communicate in a way that no other medium can? How does light shape or transform (digital) space? How does light extend and influence our reality? And how does it structure and transform our individual lives and society as a whole?

YDP