In the immersive, multimedia show by artist Robert Henke, music is 'projected' onto the façade of the former Sant'Agostino, uniting it with the Palazzo dei Musei.
Modena celebrates the beginning of 2024 by illuminating Piazzale Sant'Agostino with the music and lasers of the audiovisual show "20232024" by German artist Robert Henke. An unprecedented multimedia performance commissioned by Node Festival in which each note is at the same time light and sound and is composed creating a world premiere show, elegant and refined, immersive and exciting, in dialogue with the place where it takes place and, for this reason, unique.
Henke, also known as Monolake and considered to be one of the greatest innovators in the field of contemporary music production, has since the beginning of his career intertwined sound experimentation and computer programming, his work as an artist with that of a sound engineer building his own 'instruments'. The new work he will present in Modena on the evening of Sunday 31 December, entitled "20232024", is precisely the ideal continuation of one of his most popular shows, "Lumiere", which debuted at the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 2015 and which he also brought to Modena in 2016, as a guest of Node.
For the Councillor for Culture and Youth Policies Andrea Bortolamasi, 'music and electronic art, together, will give life to a unique show that comes to Modena,' he says, 'with the aim of accompanying the city into the new year. It is truly a valuable appointment that will close 2023: thanks to Node, therefore, which confirms itself as one of the most innovative players on the Italian cultural scene: new sounds and new images for a show that is, indeed, innovative'. The councillor, then, also recalls that the Pavarotti-Freni Municipal Theatre will propose on the first day of 2024, as it did this year, "an important musical event" such as the 'New Year's Eve Concert' performed by the Filarmonica del Comunale, and that on the evening of the 31st, the Storchi Theatre will offer "a relevant show on the themes of laughter" such as 'La macchina comica'; while other subjects are completing their own cultural and artistic proposals "for a programme," notes Bortolamasi, "that between 31 December and 1 January will be as rich in initiatives in the city as ever.
The president of the Fondazione di Modena Matteo Tiezzi adds that 'the performative sphere that links creativity, sound and media arts represents the stylistic feature of this highly innovative proposal. Its success,' Tiezzi specifies, 'lies in the fascination and relevance of artistic exploration, in its ability to excite and touch the public's imagination'.
Going into the details of Henke's audiovisual show "20232024", the work represents the latest stage in Henke's exploration of the laser as a tool for artistic expression, exploiting the medium's intrinsic properties and pushing it beyond its most extreme potential. From the purity of absolute white to almost total darkness, from colours impossible to obtain by means of traditional video technologies to elegant and elaborate kinetic forms and phenomena, all in deep connection with the sound element to realise an enthralling and exciting multimedia experience.
In the Modena event, in particular, ten high-precision lasers, manoeuvred by the artist himself, who takes care of both the sound and the visual part, will create shapes, objects and textures on the sheet covering the façade of the former Sant'Agostino hospital, ideally uniting it with the Palazzo dei Musei and creating a monumental projection of over 80 metres. The show will last approximately one hour.
New Year's Eve 2024 therefore also merges the new languages of technology with art and creativity in the sphere of Modena as Unesco Creative City for Media Arts. The show is promoted by the Municipality of Modena and curated by Node with the support of Fondazione di Modena and in collaboration with Ago Modena Fabbriche Culturali
