The theme of the twelfth edition of the Amsterdam Light Festival (ALF) 2023-2024 is "LOADING... Revealing Art, AI and Tech". More than twenty artists reflect with their light art on the effect of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) on our daily lives.
The festival structurally integrates knowledge and research into its programming. For example, there is the annual education project, which during this edition is led by artist Yasser Ballemans. Together with more than 1,000 Amsterdam primary school students, they work towards a work of art through an educational program. During this edition, a research is being conducted with the University of Groningen into the impact of art and how people experience art.
The education project
This annual project is part of a collaboration between the Amsterdam Light Festival and the municipality of Amsterdam. Primary school students from all parts of the city are introduced to (light) art by following a lesson program under the guidance of an artist. Together they create a work of art that can actually be seen at the festival. The artwork and workshops connect the festival theme with the history and heritage of the city, and the restoration of bridges and quay walls, an important theme in Amsterdam. Here you can read more about the design of the curriculum and the educational goals.
Research into impact and experience
The question 'what does art do to people?' is central to a large-scale study by the iMEMA (Interface for Measuring the Experience and Meaning of Art) research group at the University of Groningen. In collaboration with the ALF, they conduct a large audience measurement about how visitors experience the light artworks and how they influence their emotions and thoughts. In this article, researcher Ralf Cox tells more about their work.
"The biggest, smallest heroes" about viruses and bacteriophages as superheroes
"You can't see it, but there is a war going on! A very important war in the microscopic kingdom of viruses and bacteria, which inspired Breitner Academy students Kawita, Renee and Ilse to create this work of art. The leading role is played by the T4 virus, which attacks the dangerous E. coli bacteria with its 'soldiers'. They look like Martians, but that's what they really look like when you look at them through a microscope. T4 is a so-called bacteriophage, a type virus that destroys specific bacteria in a very clever way. With its 'tail' it injects its own DNA into the body of the bacterium. The phage will multiply there and eventually the bacterium will burst. So viruses do not completely get their bad reputation earning is proven by these little heroes!"
Ilse Kok, Kawita ten Kate and Renée Westland are students of the bachelor's degree in Visual Arts and Design Teaching at the Breitner Academy in Amsterdam. The Breitner Academy and the Amsterdam Light Festival have been partners since 2015. The production process could be followed via this project page.
Marcel Sman made a sound fragment especially for this work of art, which can be listened to on Soundcloud:
"To Merge" about the influence of crayfish in the Amsterdam canals
For the eleventh edition of the Amsterdam Light Festival, students from the Breitner Academy Priya Saktoe, Sorella Loman and Yoeki de Ruyter created a light artwork about the influence of crayfish in Amsterdam and the Netherlands. "The lobster was imported and released by professional fishermen and has settled permanently in Dutch waters; the American red crayfish is here to stay. The biotope in which the animal now finds itself appears to be a utopia. See it as a (cultural) assimilation process, cultures will continue to merge and a new society will emerge both above and below the water."
The artwork, created as part of an education project, was on display on the Schippersgracht opposite Central Station. The development of the work could be followed via Instagram. You can read more about the production process of the installation via Publi Air.
For photos of the light artwork 'To Merge', please visit this page of the Breitner Academy. The Breitner Academy is the HBO course for Visual Arts and Design Teachers in Amsterdam, and part of the Amsterdam University of the Arts (AHK).
“Anagallis and Sweet William” an ode to biodiversity
“Anagallis, Lysimachia, Sweet William, the greater piperfish, the small heath, and black redstart - these are just a few of the fantastic flowers, plants and animals that pass by in this exuberant, breathing collage by artist collective Blauwe Uur. Their projection is an ode to the biodiversity in the North Holland landscape, which suddenly transforms the sleek facade of a residential complex into a new world in which growth, bloom, color, capriciousness, contrast, perspective and seduction are central."
"The colorful illustrations that make up the collage come from the famous albums that nature conservationist, teacher and writer Jac P. Thijsse wrote especially for biscuit manufacturer Verkade between 1906 and 1938. The illustrations in the albums were made by artist Jan Voerman, among others, and received each with a pack of cookies. They were enthusiastically collected and pasted throughout the Netherlands. Not only a brilliant example of marketing, but also a great way to encourage love for Dutch nature. Because "too many Dutch people do not yet realize , in which wonderful country they have the privilege to live," says Thijsse."
The light artwork " Anagallis and Sweet William" by artist collective Blauwe Uur was part of the ninth edition of the Amsterdam Light Festival. Blauwe Uur consists of scenographer Andrea Dröes (1985), light and video artist Jurjen Alkema (1976), and graphic designer and animator Jos Agasi (1964). The work was commissioned and supported by: Province of North Holland.
Educational project Amsterdam Light Festival Edition 11
Together with 1200 children from all districts of Amsterdam, Studio Toer created the 'Bridge of 1000 Dreams'.
The project is part of a four-year collaboration between the festival and the City of Amsterdam. With this artwork and the workshop program we connect the festival theme with the history of the city, the origins of the canals and the restoration of the bridges and quay walls.
"The Water We Breathe" about how algae help us get oxygen
For the 9th edition of the Amsterdam Light Festival, 650 Amsterdam primary school students conducted research into the oxygen content of the water in their neighbourhood. Why is that so important? Because microbes in the water provide half of all oxygen on earth with the help of light! In this article you will find more information and videos about the research.
The Water We Breathe is a project by the New Heroes Foundation for and with Amsterdam Light Festival. It was created in collaboration with Juf op Straat, Science Hub Amsterdam, University of Amsterdam and ARTIS Micropia, with support from the BankGiro Lottery Fund. The Water We Breathe is part of the school project that Amsterdam Light Festival has organized annually since 2012. In a series of workshops, primary school students work together with an artist on a light artwork that can be seen during the festival.
The artwork
"We know the Amazon as 'the lungs of the earth', but did you know that at least half of all oxygen on our planet comes from the water? Microbes live in seas, rivers and even ponds and canals, which use light to produce oxygen and release it into the air. And the cleaner and healthier our water is, the better these little creatures can do their work. We have to take care of this together. To discover what the oxygen level is actually like in Amsterdam's waters , no fewer than 650 primary school students from all over Amsterdam conducted a major citizen survey this fall. During a series of workshops – designed and organized by the New Heroes Foundation for and with the Amsterdam Light Festival - the students conducted research into water samples that they collected in their own neighborhood. The samples were coloured with various natural pigments based on the measured oxygen content. On the front of the installation they form together you can read the formula H2O + Light = O2 (water + light = oxygen!), while at the back you can discover which values were measured in the different districts of the city."
Mini-lecture
Would you like to know more about the importance of oxygen in water? University of Amsterdam made a mini-lecture about algae. In the video below you can watch Petra Visser:
Dit web moet wel zijn gemaakt door een gigantische spin! Een spin uit een duistere toekomst, waarin een vervuild en vergiftigd milieu ervoor heeft gezorgd dat ze is gemuteerd tot enorme proporties. Zover komt het hopelijk niet (!), maar het is wel degelijk een interessant feitje dat de kunstenaar voor dit kunstwerk inspireerde. Zij ontdekte namelijk dat spinnen onder invloed van giftige stoffen, zoals pesticiden, een onregelmatig web weven. En niet alleen op spinnen, maar op álle levende wezens heeft vervuiling een slechte invloed. Daarom is het belangrijk dat onze omgeving zo schoon mogelijk blijft, waaronder de lucht die we inademen.
Lees hier meer over de totstandkoming van het kunstwerk.
Over de kunstenaar
Katie Urban (VS, 1977) is een video- en installatiekunstenaar. Ze is afgestudeerd aan de afdeling beeldende kunst van Bowdoin College in Maine, en woont en werkt momenteel in New York. Urban zoekt naar het ‘bovennatuurlijke’ in alledaagse situaties, plekken of objecten. In haar werk gebruikt ze de natuurlijke omgeving, dieren en het menselijk lichaam als symbolen voor ongrijpbare emoties en ervaringen. Haar interesse in mythologie en psychologie speelt daarbij een belangrijke rol.