Graphic Light Sculptures Turn Night Landscapes into Alien Terrain

Glowing geometric objects illuminate pristine, unforgiving landscapes in Lucid, a short film by German collective 3hund. The shapes are anachronistic yet beautiful, complementing their rugged surroundings and turning harsh the terrain into ethereal alien worlds punctuated by light geometries. Though they look manipulated, every shot is a physical installation created by positioning electroluminescent light shapes and wires in the wild.

Lucid is a surreal and gorgeous summary of the installations, capturing them in a haunting and touching short film. The artists behind 3hund, Friedrich van Schoor and Tarek Mawad, are best-known for staging ethereal scenes in nature. In 2014, the duo transformed a forest into a projection-mapped wonderland, turning trees and leaves into dancing, glimmering shapes for their film bioluminescent forest. Their projects are contemplations on technology and nature, the impact of industrialization highlighted by the absence of humanity.

The score for Lucid was composed by Achim “Künstler” Treu, a.k.a. UFO Hawaii, a Berlin-based composer and producer for movies, TV, and games. It echoes the film’s alien aesthetic, with ambient tones that make the scenes even more strange.

As with bioluminescent forest, Lucid is the documentation of a series of installations. It is a magnificent collection of site-specific light installations, as well as a feat of filmmaking. Light-sensitive filters and long establishing shots enhance its nocturnal ambiance, delivering a portrait of a slumbering, ethereal planet. Watch Lucid come to life below:

For a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Lucid, check out the project website.

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