Tartu light biennale explores perception and digital space

More than 30 outdoor light installations will fill the University of Tartu Botanical Garden as part of the Tava light biennale, which explores light, perception and digital space, ERR reports.

This year’s festival features more than 30 artists and over 40 students from the Estonian Academy of Arts, Tartu Art School and Pallas, as well as students from a children’s art school. Curator and artistic director Elo Liiv said the installations are linked by the theme of antimatter.

“It is a very physical concept, perhaps difficult to understand, but it follows the same rules as changes in society’s values and the way focus shifts in social life,” Liiv said. “Light is a tool for focusing: wherever you direct your spotlight, or your attention, you see more clearly than where there is no light.”

Estonian Academy of Arts photography student Rasmus Puksmann’s work, “House Spirit,” explores how space, light and time shape perception. From outside, the installation appears to create an artificial space in the forest. Entering it changes visitors’ perceptions, including their sense of time, Puksmann said.

The botanical garden also features work by international artists, including Belgian digital artist Michaël Verlinden’s “Human Footprint and Digital Wave.” Using motion-detection technology, the installation generates forms and landscapes from people’s movements, creating a dialogue between humans and digital space. “The idea is to create an interactive connection between a person and a screen. I use people to create a new design,” Verlinden said.

In addition to the installation trail at the botanical garden, Tava is presenting four other exhibitions in Tartu. The light trail is open to visitors through October 24.