Artists Turn a Concrete Parking Lot into a Cross of Light

Using synced light and sound to create an immersive subterranean artwork, Nonotak Studios 'Horizon V.2' is like being inside a processor.

by Kevin Holmes

September 3, 2015, 1:05pm

Light and sound artist duo Nonotak Studio—Noemi Schipfer and Takami Nakamoto–recently overtook an underground parking lot in Le Mans, France as part of the Teriaki Festival. They transformed the empty concrete space into a dynamic strobing interplay of light, shadow, and sound all synced together.

Called Horizon V.2—Nonotak often create evolved versions of specific pieces, the first iteration of this was performed at Tate Britain in June—it features two cross-shaped lines of lights on stands which create a dreamy subterranean environment. Light and audio bounce off the surfaces and ricochet amongst the pillons to create dancing silhouettes and pools of light, along with blink-and-you-miss-it forms.

"It's immersive both visually and in term of sounds—and the sensation of being submerged into an abstract space is omnipresent during the loop," explains Takami Nakamoto to The Creators Project. "The X-shaped plan for this installation allowed us to create a foreground and a background and play with the visual perception of the audience. The music was also mixed in the the actual space because the amount of reverb was overwhelming. And that was quite a unique experience as a music producer/sound designer to be able to blast loud volume of a powerful PA system in a complete empty parking lot."

You can check out some GIFs of the installation below.