German artist Carsten Nicolai lights up the Hong Kong skyline with a dazzling show on the city’s tallest building.
The performance installation “a (alpha) pulse”, commissioned by Art Basel in Hong Kong 2014, features pulsating lights on the International Commerce Center in West Kowloon flashing in syncopation with Nicolai’s electronic music.
Viewers can download his smartphone app to hear the soundtrack and fully participate in the interactive experience. They just have to point the phone at the skyscraper to sync it with the pulsating tower and their phone lights up to the beat of the show.
Nicolai tells Blouin ARTINFO he laid the groundwork for “a (alpha) pulse” with his 2009 installation “rota” in which changing frequencies of flickering light were also accompanied by sound. He says scientific research shows these impulses may have a direct effect on spectators' brain waves causing a neural feedback that can “simulate different conditions of mental condition like trance, relaxation or stress.”
Watch all ARTINFO videos from Art Basel Hong Kong 2014 HERE.
