Tesla Light Gallery
Sara Vuletić, program director of the “Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture” –This unique exposition was inspired by the great scientist, inventor, and first honorary citizen of Novi Sad – Nikola Tesla.
The impressive “Tesla Light Gallery” exhibition presented on New Year’s Eve, symbolically closed a year in which Novi Sad was the European capital of culture. The exhibition took place in the suburbs of the Petrovaradin fortress, and in certain parts of this emblematic toponym of Novi Sad, attracting a great number of visitors. Spatial installations reveal different aspects of light as a means of artistic expression that actualizes Tesla’s various discoveries, as well as Tesla’s unrealized dreams.
Sara Vuletić, program director of the “Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture” project, told YU Biblioteka that this framework was thematically conceived.
“In the first part of the exhibition were mostly light installations of last year’s Tesla-light gallery together with musical events on three stages, and a special scenography. By climbing the stairs to the clock and going through a magical light atmosphere with a minimalist approach, we arrive at specially designed lighting installations built by world-class lighting artists.”
The concept of the “Tesla Light Gallery”, said our interlocutor, has been modeled on art light festivals all over Europe and the world. Sara Vuletić pointed out that the unique exhibition was inspired by the great scientist and inventor of the world, as well as the first honorary citizen of Novi Sad – Nikola Tesla.
An impressive light event allowed visitors to enjoy an artistic celebration of New Year’s Eve in Novi Sad It represented an interesting combination of new technologies and visual art. The light installations, the original works of various artists, included projections and interesting light plays created using lasers, light beams, and neon.
“Certain installations were conceived by the architecture studio Model art in collaboration with the “Novi Sad Foundation – European Capital of Culture”. Other artists who took part in the project were: Japanese artist Yasuhiro Chida, Czech artist Pavla Beranova, Belgrade artist with extensive foreign experience Dorijan Kolundžija, and Goran Despotovski, president of the Union of Associations of Visual Artists of Vojvodina and professor at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad”, said Sara Vuletić.
She also explained in detail all the installations which compose Tesla Light Gallery.
“Yashuro Chida created the Broken facility that travels the world. It was created to evoke a phenomenon that can be seen at the heights of the mountains when the observer sees his own shadow surrounded by a rainbow. The artist has made 50,000 tiny holes in a large object that can be entered, creating the illusion that the observer is flying through the night sky.
Pavla Beranova’s installation is inspired by birds, a symbol of freedom in many cultures, as well as a symbol of guardians of tradition, memories, and heritage. Artists transformed these values into 21 light objects by using short texts and poetry in 16 languages. A special music part was composed for this installation.
Dorian Kolundžija is an artist who combines art and technology in his expression. He designed the interesting kinetic installation TIME OF FLIGHT, which is a complex system of light sources, video projections, and motorized mechanical elements synchronized into a complex, intriguing choreography. The music was specially composed for this installation as well. It is interesting that the music is based on the audio recordings of the clock mechanism at the Petrovaradin Fortress.
Goran Despotovski designed video projections that were specially designed for one of the stages in the suburbs of the Petrovaradin Fortress with special emphasis on the symbiosis of visual art and music that was performed. His work “Necklace” is a video in three parts in which the principles of movement are present: emergence and disappearance, the energy of the spirit, and the surrounding present manifestations. The appearance of this representation is found in the uniform movement of the dominant form of the figure, the outline, and the fluid space.”
At the end of the conversation, Sara Vuletić concluded that the idea is to improve the “Tesla Light Gallery”, every next year, through intensive cooperation with domestic artists, light artists from abroad, and international partners.
Jelena Jovanović