Fokus

Location
Foyer of the ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Lorenzstrasse 19, 76135 Karlsruhe

Time
From September 17, 2021
Wednesday–Friday: 10 am–6 pm
Saturday–Sunday: 11 am–6 pm

For the work Fokus, a large-format X-ray viewer as used in hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s was cored out and converted into an installation. The heart of the kinetic light object consists of rotating prism cubes. A spot is directed at each cube, whose light is refracted in a glass prism and creates a moving, overlapping and constantly changing overall image on the screen unit. This forms interlocking color spaces whose free interplay knows no repetition. Next to the frame of the viewing window are slide controls that you can operate manually and select the desired image section yourself. A switch button at the buttom serves pause the image so that you can position yourself and your reflection to artistically take a selfie. A swiveling so-called iris light on the side of the housing can be focused on the user's own person to contrast the mirror image and can be fine-tuned via a dimmer control and iris lever. It switches off after 30 seconds and on again via a pushbutton. The selfies can be sent by email at the address fokus@zkm.de. The artist will create a large-screen projection from the images.

Supported by the UNESCO City of Media Arts Karlsruhe 2021 project support program for media art.

Rainer Kehres

Rainer Kehres is a light artist and musician living and working in Karlsruhe, whose works have been shown at ZKM | Karlsruhe as well as in various international exhibitions, such as in St. Louis (US), Trento (IT), Tokushima (JP), Vienna (AT), Paris (FR) and Mumbai (IN). In 2019, he installed a light art installation at the façade of the Karlsruhe City Hall to mark the admission of the city of Karlsruhe to the UNESCO City of Media Arts network.