Signal Festival: Refik Anadol created a unique image of Prague
Refik Anadol is currently one of the world’s most sought-after digital artists. Focusing on projects that connect human and machine perception, he transforms complex data into a poetic light installation. The data that make up the upcoming installation for Prague, created at the Institute of Planning and Development, hl. m of Prague for several years. Experts working with LIDAR technology (from the English Light Detection and Ranging) using the reflection of laser beams from objects.
is a point cloud that creates a virtual 3D model. In Prague, 4,500 km of streets and other roads without car traffic, such as paths in parks, were photographed in this way. The display of Prague is extremely detailed and the total size of the recording is 16 terabytes of data. About 22,000 CDs would be used to record it. From the data, Refik Anadol created a site-specific installation that combines abstract visual elements with concrete architecture, a kind of unique virtual journey through the streets of Prague.
A walk through the city
“We were inspired by the idea that we can use a physical three-dimensional city and combine its information with city data for one year. We mixed these two different worlds,” says artist Refik Anadol. In his work, he transferred the city to the canvas. He chose the colors of the various parts both according to the local climate and weather, and based on the physical appearance, which artificial intelligence helped him transfer.
One part of the picture is based on concrete variables, the other relies more on abstraction and dreams. Refik Anadol saw the result of his work only at the very end. He was pleasantly surprised. He did not expect such a result. All the time, only ones and zeros passed under his hands.
Trouble at work
The author considers working with data to be the most difficult. “Their volume was too great. We received terabytes of data. Normally, when an artist works with pigments, they have a brush and, for example, acrylic or oil paints. But for me it was the dates of the city itself,” Refik Anadol explains to Bleska.
He had to rely on several individual points to create the image. “We spent the first month creating data, the second we finally saw the city, the third month we could create something meaningful,” Refik describes the process. The selection of the data itself, which changes over time, was also a problem.
The future of digital art
Refik Anadol stood at the birth of computer technology and digital art. He himself became an artist, designer and pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence and the aestheticization of data sets. “I first started thinking about ‘data painting’ in 2008 and it took me fourteen years. It’s been a long and slow journey,” he remembers.
At that time, network media was just getting started. At first, everything appeared to be without a problem. However, over time there was misuse of personal data, difficulties arose with freedom of decision and in general. At the same time, Refik Andol sees enormous potential in computers. “I think there’s a fifty percent chance that the technology will go in the right direction and a fifty percent chance that it’s going to get worse,” supplies.
“Signal Festival and art institutions play a key role in educating people and spreading awareness that technology can be part of art making, but also part of something unexpected,” I think Refik Anadol. Data helps the world treat Alzheimer’s, map every possible protein in the world, or improve the prediction of the climate crisis. However, they are also a danger. According to Refik Anadol, Signal Festival helps to show humanity the bright side of technology and computers.
Signal is a festival of digital and creative culture. It combines contemporary visual art, urban space and modern technology. • VIDEOS Festival Signal
The Prague Dreams project captures the streets of Prague, created from billions of data, individual points, collected in the streets of Prague
Author: Jan Malý