holdUP shared with us their latest installation, ‘FROM OFF TO ON’, exhibited at the international KOBE ART BIENNALE (Japan) during the ART IN A CONTAINER exhibition. Selected among 289 proposals, ‘FROM OFF TO ON’ received the honorable mention by the jury. In this interactive artwork, visitors are assimilated to explorers observing their environment, chasing marvels of unknown lands: nothing is taken for granted, everything is extra-ordinary. More images and project description after the break.
This installation invites people to dialog through art by using an interactive and universal media: hand-drawing. Like a blank canvas, the container embodies a receptacle for artists and art amateurs’ creativity as they print their emotions on a surprising table settled inside. Trapped in the dark and with a UV pen for only equipment, the visitor is expected to feel his way along. He eventually notices the presence of a massive volume settled in the center of the space. When he approaches that mass, he notices that UV-lights are progressively switching on, reaching their maximum intensity when he touches it. Getting eyesight back, he is eventually able to tell the volume is a large drawing table.
Actually, the visitor is assimilated to a speleologist discovering a primitive cave with prehistoric drawings painted on the rock, except that drawings are not relics from past ages. Basically, the whole space is dark until he draws on the table. Drawing is the only way to be involved and visualize the « self-made exhibition »: to see you must do!
Architects: HOLDUP Location: Kobe, Japan Design Team: Guillaume Jounet + Remy Bardin Project manager on site: Daiki Nakagawa + Shinya Kaneko Interactive design: Romé de la bigne Event: ART KOBE BIENNALE Dates: 1ST October 2011 to 23RD November 2011 Budget: 5700€ Dimensions: L=12m x l=2.5m x H=2,5m Support: Kobe Design University Materials: container: plasterboard; table: plied wood; ceiling: black ropes; system: arduino + Black Light + feutre