Luminothérapie

7th edition

CREATIVITY IN LIGHT

This winter, the Place des Festivals will shimmer with the mechanical poetry of Loop’s 13 giant zoetropes. The interactive, participatory work is sure to warm visitors of all ages, who will be asked to activate the cylinders in order to make fairy tale-inspired images come to life. At the centre of each zoetrope is a music box to provide accompaniment for the giant animated drawings.

With the devices activated, the 13 rings of coloured light will each present a story lasting a few seconds: a toad becomes a prince, the wolf blows the three little pigs’s house, scary eyes appear in the dark. These illustrations, as well as the video projection, are by Ottoblix and will spark the imagination and memories of kids and adults alike.

“The experience offered by Loop is universal, just like the illustrated imagery seen in the zoetropes and video projection.” said Rami Bebawi, an architect at Kanva Architecture and the chair of the Luminothérapie 2016 jury. “The connection between fairy tales and childhood is made both in the animation triggered by turning on the zoetrope, and in the physical components of the work, particularly the music box that plays the soundtrack.”

Loop: an illuminated, participatory, audio-video installation designed for public
The work is inspired by the zoetrope, an optical toy invented in the 19th century. Loop is a cross between a music box, a zoetrope and a railway handcar. The retro-futuristic machine, more than two metres in diameter, creates animated fairy-tale loops. Through the combined efforts of members of the public working the hand lever, the image cylinder lights up and creates the illusion of motion in the drawings.

The black and white images, tinted through a strobe effect, recall the earliest movies and are visible inside the cylinder as well as outside it, so that they can be watched from close up or far away. The speed at which the images fly by, the frequency at which the light flickers and the rhythm of the audio composition are all directly related to the pace set by the participants, who can be of any age.

ZOOTROPES SCHEDULE:
Sunday to Wednesday: noon to 10 p.m.
Thursday to Saturday: noon to 11 p.m.