PUBLISHED 16. MAR 2025
From graphic design to 3d projection mapping: Julian Hölscher develops site- and theme-specific concepts for places and companies. His architectural projections are always based on the interplay of found architecture, the digital equivalent and contextual narratives. He develops audiovisual compositions in which analog reality merges with the digital image.
// What is interesting about joining a light and media art project in Luedenscheid ?
I am obviously interested in the extraordinary architecture that I am allowed to work on. It’s also always exciting to get to know the other artists or to meet them again.
// Why did you agree to join this year’s LICHTROUTEN edition?
I have known the curators for several years and know that a festival curated by Bettina and Tom stands for excellent art. Apart from that, I earn my living with such installations.
// How does the context of LICHTROUTEN inform your piece? Are there local elements or aspects you’ve incorporated?
I translate the theme of ‘new energies’ into a kind of light power plant. I think that’s a narrative that can be told well in this format. On the one hand, the reference to the topic of new energy sources is of course obvious, but I find it all the more exciting that I can explore the topic of light as a phenomenon and thus examine an inherent self-reference to the ‘material’ used.
Light consists of both electromagnetic waves and photons. It occurs in a specific spectrum of colours of which only the colours between infrared and ultraviolet are perceptible to the human eye. Spectral analysis also reveals dark lines in the continuous color spectrum. These allow scientists to determine, among other things, the chemical composition of stars and other celestial bodies, as all elements in the universe absorb specific wavelengths.
The LICHTWERK acts like a receiver that collects and converts the light. In the process, it is split into its colours. Can you walk us through your creative process for this artwork, from initial ideas to the concept to the final execution?
The respective architecture and its formal language is always the starting point of the approach. In the analysis, I break down the structure into materialities, contrasts and our Gestalt Laws of Perception, such as Law of Similarity, Law of Continuity, Shape Contrast, Direction Contrast and so on… This determines how I have to interact with the building.
Added to this is the context in which a work is created. First, I research the subject and use the knowledge I have acquired to develop specific questions that interest me. This is followed by phases of experimentation in which I try to translate these questions into an audiovisual expression. Finally, I decide which of the insights I have gained I want to formulate and transpose them into a concept.