Daan Roosegaarde :: DUNE 4.0 :: Louisville, KY
This fall, a construction scaffold in downtown Louisville has been transformed into an interactive contemporary art installation, surprising passersby with an extraordinary new landscape. Installed in a 45-foot long corridor, Dune 4.0 envelops viewers in an environment of shifting light which responds to human movement. The installation marks the U.S. debut of the work of Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde, who first conceived of the piece in 2007. Open in Louisville from September 22 to October 20, 2009, Dune 4.0 is presented by artwithoutwalls, a new non-profit, non-collecting art organization.
Located on Louisville’s Main Street, the Dune 4.0 environment is lit by a waist-high forest of hundreds of LED lights which respond to the movement and sound of visitors as they walk by. Inspired by the novels of J.G. Ballard and the films of David Lynch, Roosegaarde’s work encourages playful interactions with its audience, engaging each viewer in a distinct “conversation”. Through this piece, Roosegaarde tests spatial perceptions and the dynamic relationships between architecture, people and technology, exploring the theory that nature and technology are evolving in tandem toward an eventual merger. Dune 4.0 has been exhibited in Asia and in Europe, and a permanent version of the work is being installed Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
“Dune 4.0 is an otherworldly environment which draws viewers in almost effortlessly, creating a magical space embedded within the city,” says Alice Gray Stites, Director of artwithoutwalls. “Using emerging technologies, Daan’s work creates opportunities for a seamless transition between everyday experiences and contemporary art — exactly the kind of experiences cultivated by artwithoutwalls. Daan’s futuristic interventions examine the potential for technology to enhance human understanding of our behavior and our environments — both built and natural. In occupying this vibrant intersection of invention and responsive, multi-sensory design, the immersive, high-tech poetry of Daan Roosegaarde’s work reminds us that art is the infrastructure of innovation.”
In conjunction with Louisville’s 2009 Idea Festival, Roosegaarde discussed his work in a presentation titled “Progressive Realities,” at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts on September 25. He also discussed his practice at the University of Kentucky on September 23, as part of a year-long lecture series at the College of Design, organized by Dean Michael Speaks. Students from the College of Design assisted in the installation of Dune 4.0.
Rooseegaarde told audiences that “technology is already changing the way we experience reality. And reality is becoming more aware of us, in a way. I make art that is responsive, that tries to make people more aware of their bodies, and of their relationships to each other, to the environment, in a sensual, poetic way. Tech is just a great tool to create that awareness. I’m interested in how art can create an engagement, how art can help us ask ‘is this the life we want to live?’ It’s art as soft capital.”
About Daan Roosegaarde
Daan Roosegaarde is an artist working in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, whose work was featured in the 2007 Venice Biennale. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts AKI in Enschede, the Netherlands and received a Master of Arts Degree at the Berlage Institute, a Postgraduate Laboratory of Architecture in Rotterdam. Roosegaarde's interactive projects have been exhibited at the Netherlands Media Art Institute Montevideo, in Amsterdam, the Tate Modern in London, The Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM) in Yamaguchi, Japan, the National Art Center in Tokyo and the 2009 Venice Biennale. Currently he is the creative director of Studio Roosegaarde, an independent artistic laboratory in which his interactive artworks are created. Daan Roosegaarde has been nominated for a 2009 Dutch Desgin Award.