Crystal Palace, Amsterdam
Date uploaded: December 14, 2009
Giny Vos has created the artwork Crystal Palace for the new expansion of the Amsterdam RAI exhibition and conference centre, designed by architects BenthemCrouwel. In this work, three-dimensional images of concrete and abstract objects appear and disappear in a structure made up of thin aluminium tubes and white LEDs.
RAI hosts a huge number of different (trade) fairs, and is characterised by a dynamic interplay of display, packing and unpacking, seduction and sales. Crystal Palace responds to this at different levels. An unceasing stream of objects passes by: a chair, a vase, a house, a ball: all showing off their seductive allures in a glittering display. Icons of our modern age, they float, magically and weightlessly through space, but only for a fleeing moment. New forms then take their place; sometimes colliding with their predecessors, or melting together. They then lose their shape, shrink or disintegrate within the motion of this unceasing flow.
Crystal Palace is located at the entrance to Elicium and covers two storeys. The work consists of a structure made from 286 thin aluminium tubes, in which 4,096 tiny lights have been placed, each consisting of 6 white LEDs. The entire structure is controlled by a specially developed program. The network of narrow tubes creates a transparent structure which attracts attention from far away, like a crystal. The work was carried out by Yens & Yens in Amsterdam.
Giny Vos works with large-scale installations in the public space, whereby she makes use of light and new media. Taking the specific place as her starting point, Vos creates images that make visible aspects or processes within the environment that would otherwise go unnoticed. Processes are just as important as physical aspects, and are reflected in the use of movement, light and digital displays. In this way, Vos – literally and figuratively – reveals the given situation in a different light, leading to the creation of a new situation, but without obscuring the existing one.
