Interactive software art on the streets of Stockholm
– Nobel Week Lights, 4–12 December
Bring your phone and control Nobel laureates and their movements across a great wall! Inspired by Nobel Prize-awarded discoveries and laureates, stunning artworks will light up the darkness in 21 installations presented in the streets of Stockholm. Two of these installations are prepared by KTH groups: cyber|glow, by re|thread and Riddle 102 by the architectural design group at The School of Architecture and the Built Environment.
We have talked to Benoit Baudry, who, together with the re|thread collective, arranges the light installation cyber|glow on the streets of Stockholm, generated in real-time based on the interaction from the visitors.
Hi Benoit! Tell us about The Nobel Week Lights and the installation.
"The cyber|glow installation is an interactive software art installation prepared by the re|thread collective, as part of the Nobel Week Lights 2021.
Inspired by Nobel Prize-awarded discoveries and laureates, stunning artworks will light up the darkness this December. This year, 21 installations are presented in different streets of Stockholm. Two of these installations are prepared by KTH groups: cyber|glow, by re|thread and Riddle 102, by the architectural design group at The School of Architecture and the Built Environment (ABE)."
"The participants can connect to cyber|glow with their phone and control an avatar in the game that is projected on a large wall. The game is a quiz about Nobel and computer science and a playful experience to handle a character on a giant outdoor wall."
What will happen in the installation, and where can we see it?
"The installation is at Benny Fredrikssons Torg (just behind Kulturhuset). It is interactive and is generated based on the participant's actions. The more active participants, the more beautiful art!
cyber|glow is a diptych. One part is a multi-player game. The participants can connect to cyber|glow with their phone and control an avatar in the game that is projected on a large wall. The game is a quiz about Nobel and computer science and a playful experience to handle a character on a giant outdoor wall.
The second part is a light projection. All the code and data executed when the audience plays the game feed a generative laser projection. The laser lets the audience see the invisible software that fuels a multi-player game."
This is not the first time you have been part of this; what do you like about it?
"Nobel Week Lights is a significant public event at the intersection of science art. Artists are inspired by all sorts of scientific discoveries. Their installations in the public space aim at conveying these inspirations to a broad audience. And they also project lots of lights during the longest nights of the year.
For us, it is excellent that software is represented as an object of scientific research in the Nobel Week Lights. And it is a beautiful opportunity to enchant a diverse audience with the beauty of programs that execute."
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