INTRO
Immersed within the context of the Nobel Prize Week in Stockholm, this temporary Lighting Installation is an homage to Alfred Nobel and all of the more than 960 Nobel Laureates whom have raised the bar on different research areas and expanded human knowledge making history.
Brunkebergstunneln (1886) is 231 metres long and interconnects two of the most central districts of Stockholm (https://nobelweeklights.se/installation/riddle-102/?lang=en). The pedestrian tunnel, a marvel on engineering, implemented knowledge of physics and chemistry. Two methods were used in the creation of the linear void; at the East side, Alfred Nobel´s invention for blasting, while at the West side, soil temperature was decreased until frozen in order to facilitate excavation. Two opposites, a dual character, at each end, East-West/Freezing-Blasting meet at the core of the tunnel.
THE LIGHTING INSTALLATION
The Lighting Installation captures the binomial character of Alfred Nobel. On one hand, the technical and scientific approach by which he created numerous inventions such as Patent 102 (Dynamite) and on the other, the artistic and sensible side by which he wrote poetry such as the famous “The Riddle”. Both gave the inspiration to “Riddle 102“ for the Temporary Light Installation at Brunkebergstunneln.
The intervention divided the tunnel in 3 portions using Richard Kelly´s 3 light tenets:
– Ambient light; through coloured gels (blue/neutral/red) that filtered the light of the existing fixtures achieving a homogeneous atmosphere of spatial light.
– Focal Glow; a visual destination at the core of the tunnel. The impression is of neutral white light (existing fixtures + neutral gel). The incorporation of mesh fabrics along the ceiling breaks the spatial continuity allowing a change of scale and proportions. Diffused & reflected light creates a spatial riddle, a moment, a pause that prepares the visitor to immerse into the next portion of the tunnel (red/blue).
– Play of brilliants; added along both tunnel´s sides (462 meters) a DMX controlled dynamic iColor Flex with a 1min 50sec sequence that looped endlessly enhancing the connection to the freezing and blasting techniques. This allowed to break the linearity of the space. This set the light´s pace that guides and accompanies the visitor through the journey into the tunnel with a dynamic light scheme that flows from both ends into the core of the tunnel where they converge and “explode”.
– Extra dimension; synchronized soundscape was created specifically for the installation. Made of 7 different looped tracks that supported and elevated the experience through soundwaves originated from the core expanding to the edges of the tunnel.
The light installation is thought from a multisensory bodily experience to connect emotionally with the visitor. Vision, audition and kinesthesia are part of the immersive journey aiming to alter the perception of tunnel’s physicality as if the time continuum altered space into a new reality while bringing back the memory of the blasting/freezing techniques that made possible its construction. What a Nobel invention, what a Riddle!
Lighting/control equipment: sponsored by Signify and Stockholm lighting, no costs made by artists/event organizers in this regards.
