Light Installations at the Stavros Niarchos Park

In the Stavros Niarchos Park, four light installation of renowned foreign creators (Light Piano by Arion de Munck and Mark Ridder, Submergence by Squidsoup, Halo by Venividimultiplex, Light Holders by Jonas Vorwerk) and a Greek entry, POMPE, by George Nikas and Eleni Maragaki, that was selected, for the first time, through an open call, create - once more - a fairytalelike, Christmas setting. The Light Installations are part of the SNFCC Christmas World that comes alive thanks to an exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). 

Large-scale Light Installations, visible from a distance, created for public space, engage in a dynamic conversation with the Park and offer visitors a unique, impressive experience, inviting them to interact and capture this whimsical experience.

The light installations are on daily from 5 pm to midnight, December 1, 2022 through January 8, 2023. Admission is free.

The installations in detail:

LIGHT HOLDERS
Jonas Vorwerk (Wireframe, Netherlands)
Great Lawn
At the Great Lawn, visitors of the Stavros Niarchos Park meet a light installation that allows anyone to experience loop-based musical compositions. Light Holders acts as a tribute to the music lab of the 50’s and 60’s where experimentation with analogue magnetic tapes built the ground for modern music making. Vorwerk’s lab, however, is not an enclosed studios. It is out in the open, anywhere in the public space.

Its simple and elegant form together with vibrant light animations create a corresponding visual reflection of the soundscape lab created by the computer algorithm. The result is an unusual audiovisual spectacle which was awarded the Foederer Talent Award.
Light Holders adds to the Stavros Niarchos Park a new soundscape that electrifies Great Lawn’s atmosphere. As a multi-talented artist, Jonas Vorwerk draws inspiration from both his experience in the electronic music scene and his training as an engineer. His creations frequently explore the ideas of repetition, interaction, chance and change. 
The works he creates often introduce surprising and playful overlaps between the physical and the digital. They are not meant for traditional white cube spaces, but rather for crowded streets, outdoor festivals or open landscapes. In these places they can not only be looked at, but also touched and experienced.

SUBMERGENCE
Squidsoup (Light Art Collection, United Kingdom)
Dome
Submergence uses many thousands of individual points of suspended light to create the impression of digital presence and movement within physical space. The installation transforms space into a hybrid environment where virtual and physical worlds coincide. 
The light moves through several movements, creating a semi-linear piece. Each movement has its own elements, atmosphere and responsiveness. They are also all open to one’s own interpretation.
Squidsoup are pioneers in the use of light, sound and technology to create installations. Their works have been seen by millions of people across the globe in art galleries and live events, festivals and solo exhibitions. They develop dynamic, immersive, walkthrough experiences, using massive arrays of individually addressable points of light to re-create virtual architecture and form, movement and presence, in a shared physical world. 

LIGHT PIANO 2.0
Arion de Munck, Mark Ridder (Light Art Collection, Netherlands)
Pine Grove
The creation of the interactive installation Light Piano 2.0 which can be regarded as both an art work and a musical instrument, was inspired by the question ‘how can music and image become one?’ 
The cubes placed in this spatial composition are connected to the keys of the piano, creating together Light Piano 2.0. In this installation the sound of the piano is being mobilised and visualised, allowing the audience not only to play the piano but also to play the light. The result is a special kind of instrument that resonates with ears, eyes and heart. 
Artist collective Kleurbleur with key members Mark Ridder and Arion De Munck creates visual presence ranging from theatre and dance performance to exhibitions and company events. Each project has its own unique challenge, but the artists are always working on the crossroads of spatial- light- and interaction design intersecting with music, video-mapping and graphic design.

HALO
Venividimultiplex (Light Art Collection, Netherlands)
Water Jets
HALO directly refers to the sun as our greatest source of light and warmth that shapes the conditions for life on our planet. An actual HALO is an optical phenomenon produced by light interacting with crystals in the atmosphere. On a supernatural and cultural level the HALO has a universal place in emphasizing the sacred being. 
HALO interacts with its surroundings in all these ways. Its presence will lift the visitors up for precious moments and let them universally dream, once they encounter it at the Water Jets. The ring actually consists of an overwhelming amount of alternately shorter and longer super slim light rays. When approached, the human presence triggers a unique motion in light that comes to its height when the HALO is fully lit.
Joost van Bergen, Dirk Schlebusch and Onne Walsmit have been working together since 2012 as Venividimultiplex, with the tagline ‘Let’s make things epic’. With their interdisciplinary and interactive installations, Venividimultiplex attempts to push the boundaries.

POMPE
George Nikas, Eleni Maragaki (Greece)
Planted Roofs
Through their installation, George Nikas and Eleni Maragaki invite the visitors of the Stavros Niarchos Park to participate in a different light procession that traverses both sides of the path to the SNFCC Lighthouse.
120 light columns, placed in accordance with a geometric grid, and in contrast with the natural greenery, work as a reminder of the human figure in a ritualistic procession. Every column is illuminated by a clear, white light, inspired by the mystical and ritualistic character of ancient processions. The columns compose a work that explores the relationship between nature and structured space, human element and architecture, movement and pause.
The installation was commissioned by the SNFCC, following an open call. This year, for the first time, the SNFCC invited, through an open call, artists or artist groups based in Greece to participate with their own original work.
George Nikas has worked in architecture studios in Athens and has been awarded in national architectural contests. Since March 2021, he has been working at the Archaeological site of Mystra as an architect/restorer. At the same time, he works as a freelancer, undertaking private and public projects. 
Eleni Maragaki is a visual artist born in Athens. She studied Painting at the Athens School of Fine Arts and MA Fine Art in Central Saint Martins, UAL, with distinction, as a recipient of the Mona Hatoum Bursaries Award. Her artistic work focuses on various techniques such as sculpture, drawing, printmaking and video. She has received awards and distinctions from organizations such as Tate Modern, The Muse Gallery and the Maison/0 Sustainability Awards and has participated in exhibitions in Greece and abroad.
More information may be found on our website https://www.snfcc.org/en/LightInstallations2022 and on our social media pages @SNFCC.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) is a world renowned environmentally sustainable public space of expression, culture and recreation, as envisioned and implemented by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). Designed by Renzo Piano and the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), it was handed over to the Greek State and its citizens in February 2017. It includes the National Library of Greece (NLG) and the Greek National Opera (GNO), as well as the Stavros Niarchos Park, one of the largest green spaces in Athens. In line with its initial commitment at the time of the project’s delivery, the SNF supported the SNFCC for the first five years of its operation (2017–2021), while in February 2022 it renewed its support, with a grant of a total of €10 million ($11.2 million), to cover the SNFCC's operating and programming costs for another year.

Additional information about the SNFCC:
• Current hours of operation: 
Stavros Niarchos Park, Lighthouse: daily 06.00–00.00
Central Lobby: daily 09.00–21.00
Visitors Center: daily 10.00–14.00 and 17.00–21.00
• Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the SNFCC premises: SNFCC-FREE-WIFI.
• The SNFCC has an indoor parking space for 1,000 vehicles. For more information and pricing, please visit SNFCC.org.
• All SNFCC spaces, including the parking area, are accessible to disabled persons and wheelchairs.
• Food & beverage facilities at the SNFCC can be found at the Agora, the Visitors Center, the Lighthouse, and Stavros Niarchos Park.
• At the 5th level of the GNO building you may find DELTA restaurant, awarded with two MICHELIN stars in the Athens Guide for 2022 and one MICHELIN Green Star for Sustainable Gastronomy.
• The SNFCC Store operates on SNFCC premises, featuring a wide and constantly renewed collection of utility and decorative objects.
• The SNFCC has won LEED Platinum certification as a Green Building, the highest possible distinction for environmentally friendly and sustainable buildings. The LEED program certifies that a building is designed and constructed on the basis of the principles of sustainable construction, using environmentally innovative practices aiming at energy saving, rational use of water, reduction of CO2 emissions, improvement of the quality of the internal environment, rational management of resources, and response to environmental impact. The SNFCC’s platinum certification is the first distinction of that level to be awarded to such a large-scale cultural project in Greece and Europe.