Underworld is a spatial installation in form of luminous forms depicting an imaginary tiny undersea settlement. The project emerged from the aim to put attention onto sensitive sea life and its fragile environment. This art installation was made for the occasion of the ”Island of Light” festival, situated in Smögen, a small fishing village on the west coast of Sweden. The concept takes inspiration from the very specific marine environment of that costal area, which has a strong relation to the life in the Skagerak Sea and from the significant engaging commitment of the local community in the preservation of the marine environment.
Underworld is made using the disposed fishing materials that are collected from the sea bottom by the local village initiative of the sea-cleaning actions. We collaborate with Marine Recycling Center in Sotanäs. Those various fishing materials have been resting on the sea bottom for ages. Now, reused in this project, they get a new light and new life. Fishing nets from different ages are reused to form giant lanterns. Layers of different fishing nets are mixed together in the layers of times. They all carry the life stories from the local fishermen. Shaped in the project Underworld those materials connect us with the past and the rich history, as well as this art installation express the experience of imaginary fragile life forms in the Skagerak Sea.
Underworld depicts a dimension of the everyday life of a fictional civilisation from the world under, given few recognizable and familiar elements of the human life, such as urban character of the installation, simple forms of architecture and the subtle dynamic lighting. Originally composed soundscape that combines sound of sea-life with urban life character give deeper and life-sparkling dimension to the artwork. Underworld links to the fragile sea life, as an imaginary passage connecting the known world with the unknown imaginary world.
Original soundscape by Leonel Kaplan
Underworld video
Exhibitions:
2023 "Island of Light", Smögen, Sweden Photo: Ant Dickinson
2023 "Brixen Water Light Festival" Bressanone, Italy
2023 "Geiranger Light Art Festival", Geiranger, Norway
2022 "Borås Bright Art" Borås, Sweden
2022 "Island of Light", Smögen, Sweden
2022 "iLight Singapore", Singapore
2020 "Blockheide Leuchtet", Gmünd, Austria Photo: Joanna Pianka, Walter Hausleitner
2020 "Skopje Light Art District", Skopje, North Macedonia Photo: Emil Petrov
2020 "Lighting Guerrilla", Ljubljana, Slovenia Photo: DK
2019 "Visual Festival", Joensuu, Finland
2019 "Island of Light", Smögen, Sweden
