Gunda Förster, Concept image, 2009
Photo: Tania Ruiz Gutiérrez

Ice Light
by Gunda Förster

Vancouver City Hall
West 12th Avenue & Cambie Street

German artist Gunda Förster’s inventive light installations can be found in major cities throughout Europe. Ice Light, her work for Vancouver City Hall and her first North American commission, appears as ice gracing the edges of the heritage building. Starting at dusk, as City Hall’s tower clock marks the hour, the lights cascade over the building’s external edges. In addition to its artistic qualities, the installation’s use of LED lights will reduce the power consumption of City Hall’s exterior lighting by more than 70 per cent.

Förster’s installations incorporate light, space and movement in relation to architecture. In her view, her work in urban environments, whether inside buildings or outdoors, exist only in relation to their surroundings and social, historical and local context. She is particularly interested in the way art can shift people’s perceptions of public spaces:

“My works are about concerns that play an important role in everyday life as well as in art and architecture: the conditions of perception, orientation, movement and communication – all of these impact my thoughts about a situation and the development of an idea for a specific place.

My idea for this Vancouver installation was to illuminate the horizontal external edges of City Hall with white LED strips, so as to underline its cascade structure. Starting at dusk, when City Hall’s tower clock strikes the hour, the lights will be set in motion so as to appear like a waterfall of light.

On the one hand, a technologically produced natural phenomenon, such as this waterfall, in the centre of the city refers to Vancouver’s unique characteristics: a highly industrialized city that is surrounded by wild, pristine nature. On the other hand, the work also refers to the traditional function of a City Hall, one of a city’s most important buildings, where the clock signals the start of every new hour with an acoustic signal. ”

Gunda Förster, 2009

Artist Biography

Gunda Förster lives and works in Berlin and is currently a guest professor at Leibniz University, Hannover. She has been the subject of a number of solo exhibitions, most recently architektur:positionen, Berlin (2010). Her award winning work has also been included in many group shows, such as the upcoming Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2010) and Künstlerbund, Berlin (2009). Her permanent public art pieces can be found in various European cities, from Berlin to Nice, and now, Vancouver.