Light Spectacle in Pula, Croatia for the European Culture Capital 2020 Bid
Croatian city creates the world's largest live Tetris board using only light fixtures in a residential building
Pula, Croatia, March 13, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Croatian city of Pula put on a memorable show in order to push their candidature for the 2020 European capital of culture. They organized the most unusual lighting performance in the history of the city entitled The Switch (Prekidač). In this performance, residents of the building in the city area of Veruda created a unique light installation by turning the lights in the building on an off, starting by writing Pula+2020 across the right side of the building and then creating the largest active Tetris game screen in the world.
This technically challenging lighting performance was created with the help of the world-renowned Visualia festival and the Visualia Lab /EduSplash platform. The aim of the project was to involve the residents of Pula in the Pula 2020 project and to inform them that their city has made it to the finals. Several thousand residents of Pula gathered in front of the light installation building in order to show their support for the Pula 2020 project. As we already reported on several occasions, Pula has entered the European tender for a project entitled „Demilitarization! From the fort to the forum“, and the Croatian city that will carry the title of the European culture capital 2020 will be announced on March 24, 2016.
"The SWITCH is completely analog and it was realized simply by pressing the switch in kitchens, living rooms and bedrooms, unlike other light installations that include the use of new technologies and modern computer software"
Mario Bolković, Director of Visualia festival, Pula
Even though the lighting installation was only performed on one-half of the building (due to the fact that the rest of the building is not occupied), it is interesting to note that the entire installation was done without the use of modern technology and computer software. Al that was used was the actual lighting system within the building and the residents were asked to turn their light switches on and off in order to create a choreographed pattern. The Switch was, therefore, a completely analogue project, and in order to thank the residents for their participation, organizers gave all of them 2 long-lasting LED light bulbs, and all 3 building entrances that participated will receive a framed photo of the event as a token of their participation and a reminder of their artistic achievement.
PREKIDAČ is an art installation created by Marko Bolković, and artist from Pula and the director of Visualia festival whose production is signed by the VisuaLab/EduSplash multimedia platform. The project was supported by the Tourist Board of Pula, Istrian Archaeological Museum and the Pula Association of technical culture.
