ALEXANDER HAHN

electronic media artist

Video

ALBEDO 0.30

(2019, 24 hr video loop for LED mosaic, 33 ft x 14 ft)


Permanently installed in the entrance lobby of the F. Hoffmann - La Roche Home for IT (HIT255) in Kaiseraugst, Switzerland. 


In astronomy, Albedo is the proportion of incident light reflected by a surface, typically that of a planet or moon, 0.30 for the Earth. In this work, themed with the cycles of life and sun, it is the light of memory illuminating a giant LED mosaic with  observations of the everyday saved from oblivion.

Mosaics usually consist of colored glass pieces, stone plates or other materials to create a static image. Albedo 0.30 uses LEDs, luminous dots that generate a continuous stream of moving images, reminiscent of chemistry and chromatography. The compound to be separated is the light captured by the camera lens and converted into electromagnetic information. It is made visible again via the LEDs as electronic color writing, a kind of luminous excavation of memory.

The LED matrices don't form a compact video wall, but show gaps. Considering ideal viewing distance and LED display pixel pitch, 5mm in this case, most tiles are concentrated at the top, thinning out in random fashion towards the floor. Situated in the spacious entrance lobby, this wall offers different viewing angles and viewing distances, allowing the work to be experienced in ever new ways, from the contiguous picture at the top to the single LED dot closeup. The fragmentary form of the mosaic resembles an archaeological find. However, it doesn't originate from the nearby ruins of Augusta Raurica nor Roman times, but from the present day.