Something new: Licht fantastic
Olivia Rosenman
What do you get when you put a graffiti artist, a photographer, a computer programmer, a graphic designer and a video artist in a room together?
No, it's not a joke; the answer is Lichtfaktor: a creative lab and pioneer of an emerging art form called light graffiti. Now, the German art troupe have brought their work to Hong Kong.
What is light graffiti? Think back to the joy you experienced as a child playing with sparklers. Now imagine that magical, moving-light effect set on a background of contemporary urban landscapes, sometimes with a funky soundtrack and chic choreography.
The artists use long exposure photography to capture light "painted" into different forms. On a computer those images are arranged into a sequence to create the illusion of movement. Lichtfaktor produce images and videos, and will be running workshops on this funky new art form.
The group, founded by Cologne's first video jockey, Marcel Panne, are the stars of an exhibition in Sha Tin entitled "Waves of Shining Light".
The first of its kind in Asia, the event has been organised by the Light Painting World Alliance - a non-profit organisation that unites light painters from around the world - and is showcasing 100 works of light art by more than 50 artists from 17 countries. Lichtfaktor were commissioned to produce one of their signature pieces especially for the Hong Kong debut.
