Interview Kai-Uwe Schwenk (Panirama)

What was the first art/design/architecture work that impressed you?

It started all with music: as a kid my parents took me to many classical concerts, later I played rock. I understood how important space is for sound and light, for listening and visual perception. This guided me to become a sound-engineer and stage-lighting designer.

How do you reflect on light as a material or media in your work?

I worked for more than 10 years as a stage-lighting designer before I discovered the PANI technology 5 years ago and fell in love with its potential. I found amazing tools to fathom spatial realities, play with their visibleness and to amplify them into illusionary spaces.

What was the guiding interest in your conceptual approach of your work which we will see during GLOW?

I enjoy very much those moments when I am not sure what is there to see. The openness of the unknown inspires reflections and engenders fantasies. In “Stardust” we create an interplay of the known and the unknown. We use fragments of well-known urban night sceneries, including their noctural skies above them, to envelope and to modify the perceptibleness of the architectural surface of the “Philips Lighting” building.

What made it interesting to work in Eindhoven?

As a technician I was involved in the first edition of GLOW in 2006 and I really enjoyed what I saw – the choice of artists and designers, the concept and the reactions of the audience. GLOW offers images and experiences which are exceptional and very much appreciated by the audience. It is special to work in a city where people are so enthusiastic about the potential of contemporary lighting.

What kind of respond do you expect from the audience?

I hope that the viewers will take their time to discover how architecture, projection light, images, sound and motion mingle in the process of seeing to an (hopefully) awe-inspiring way.