The question that comes up again and again as to what I call my work and light objects usually gets the answer: light art. But what exactly do we mean by this?
ATARA light objects are made of different materials. They are handmade and play with lightness and translucency, that is their artistic claim. In doing so, they fill spaces and create volumes without taking away the view. At the same time, the materials, whose spectrum ranges from fibreglass to stone, metal, textile, handmade paper and also moss, are each special in their properties and could not be more different. Therefore, due to the claim to always create physically light light objects, they are constructed accordingly. The materials can be transparent as well as opaque, so the lightness is also visually apparent.
Light art is about aesthetics, not about the primary light source. It’s about the use and the way the light is staged. That’s what makes the effect, that’s what creates the atmosphere. The primary light source of the ATARA light objects is sunlight. In combination with LED, an ATARA light object becomes a hybrid, and that is what distinguishes these objects. Their forms are often sculptural, expansive, but also two-dimensional and therefore intended for walls and ceilings.
As an art genre in its own right, light art has only one museum in the world to date, which shows it in all its spectrum: The Centre for International Light Art in Unna is dedicated exclusively to light art. Great artists such as Olafur Eliasson, Mario Merz, Rebecca Horn, Brigitte Kowanz, Joseph Kosuth, Mischa Kuball, Christina Kubisch, Keith Sonnier, Jan van Munster, François Morellet and Christian Boltanski are permanently represented here with an installation. And the two works by James Turrell reflect the very core of the collection’s focus. Working with sunlight, using green energy and thus saving energy, is the focus of the ATARA light objects on the technical side. Lightness and translucency of the materials, which are taken to their limits by forming a connection with fibre optics, is the claim on the artistic side.
To be represented with a spectacular installation in the Centre for International Light Art in Unna is my personal dream on the real side!