The Luminous Box

Genre:light sculpture, public intervention | Exhibiting institution:KHM, Academy of Media Arts Cologne | Year of creation:2011 | City/Country:Cologne / Germany |
Location:wasteland in Cologne-Buchforst | Material:image printed on a transparent photo film | Dimension:60 x 100 x 60 cm | In-situ:weathered lineside telephone box on abandoned railway track | Equipment:two solar panels I solar battery I charge controller I twilight control switch I LED strip |

The Luminous Box is a weathered lineside telephone box, which represents a photo on luminous film in the front frame of the box. The site where the telephone box was found is an abandoned railway track in a wasteland by Cologne-Buchforst. The photo shows the telephone box itself and parts of the surrounding area. As soon as the sun sets, the twilight contol switch activates the LED strips behind the photo film and the photo becomes visible. So that this process could be repeated night after night, solar collectors were installed on the roof of the former telephone box and the solar battery was installed in the box itself. Thus, the former telephone box was transformed into a “Luminous Box” in the darkness of the wasteland.

Ten days after the installation, the “Luminous Box” was broken open and looted by persons unknown. The solar collectors, the solar battery and the LED strip were taken. The box itself was still hanging in its original place.

Performance:Andrey Ustinov | Participants:Patrick Janney, Akiro Hellgardt, Alexander Paskal Forre | Metalwork:Bernd Voss | Electrical installation:Martin Nawrath, Thorin Hopkins | Camera:Vera Drehbusch, Timo Josefowicz, Denisa Voicu | Photography:Andrey Ustinov | Video editing:Andrey Ustinov | Production:KHM, Academy of Media Arts Cologne |
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