Laserscape Kassel

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View from Hercules over the city (autumn 2006). In the foreground you can see the Great Fountain of Water Arts.

The Laserscape Kassel is the world's first permanent laser light sculpture in public urban space. It was designed by the artist Horst H. Baumann with the assistance of the engineer Peter Hertha on the occasion of documenta 6 in 1977 and realized for the first time.

history

Since the installation was very popular with the Kassel population, it was put into permanent operation on January 13, 1979 at the initiative of the Kassel publisher Rainer Dierichs . In 1992 the technology was damaged by thieves, after which the installation was not continued.

It was not until 2000 that the Städtische Werke AG made the artwork functional again; Operation was guaranteed until the end of 2007 on selected dates.

From 2007 the Laserscape was converted to compact diode lasers with the help of the documenta Forum eV Kassel for the next ten years .

technology

First laser installation in the Zwehrenturm in 1979
Air-to-water heat exchanger in the Zwehrenturm

Lasers from Spectra-Physics were used for the first installation in 1979. This involved an argon laser and a Krypton - laser . In addition, an air-to-water cooling system was installed to cool the two lasers. The pictures on the right are from this time and were made by the then technical assistant for Horst-H. Baumann recorded.

In the following years this laser system was replaced by a system from Coherent Inc. When the green laser had already lost 50 percent of its power and urgently needed to be replaced, the Laserscape was put into operation for the last time on June 2, 2007.

While the old lasers had to be cooled with the help of 3 m³ of water (which, like the lasers, was located in the Zwehrenturm ), the new models no longer require complex cooling.

Two modern, more energy-efficient green lasers are currently in use, which only consume approx. 500 W of electrical power for 15 watts of light output (approx. 10 watts towards Hercules and 5 watts to the State Museum) (approx. 1% of the previous electricity consumption). The laser in the orangery has a power of 5 watts which is divided into 3 beams. The new lasers were supplied by Compact Laser Solutions GmbH.

Furthermore, 8 m² of solar cells are installed on the Fridericianum to generate electricity for the installation and to sell the surplus to the municipal utilities. A battery with which the laser art can continue to operate for several hours is supposed to bridge any power failures.

course

The lasers are set up in the former observatory room of the Zwehrenturm at the Museum Fridericianum. From there, the rays go to key points in Kassel's history. In parallel from the city center, the two red and green rays run over 7,350 meters to the Octagon of Hercules and refer to the historical connections between the city area and Wilhelmshöhe .

At the same time, partial beams could be split off on the tower in such a way that the green laser beam hit the roof of the central orangery building, from where it was split into a fan shape and illuminated the baroque park of the Karlsaue : A central beam emphasized the central axis to the temple on the Pfaueninsel , while two six-beam fans followed the canal axes at a height of about ten meters. In addition, the red laser beam crossed the arrangement directly from the Zwehrenturm and hit one of the mythological statues at the southern end of Karlswiese . The Karlsaue area is no longer illuminated today, however: the old lasers were too weak for this, and the new ones will not be suitable for further splitting by diffraction due to their narrow spectral range .

In the future there will be a third green laser beam. This will radiate from the Zwehrenturm to the State Museum and there will be deflected in the direction of Hercules, so that it will run over Wilhelmshöher Allee. So it runs parallel to the rays over Goethestrasse. The laser lights up every Saturday from nightfall until around 1 a.m. The work of art Laserscape has thus become the nightly landmark of the city of Kassel.

Fundraiser

To secure the work of art for the next ten years, 150,000 euros (50,000 euros per laser) had to be invested. The city of Kassel contributed with a donation of 90,000 euros; the remaining amount was funded by a fundraising campaign that was launched in 2006.

The 7,325 meters of the laser were “sold” in pieces of 1 “laser meter” for 10 euros each, an aerial photo with the laser meter shown cost an additional 5 euros. There was a certificate and a donation receipt for the donation. If you bought 5 meters, you also received an emblem glowing in the laser colors, at 200 meters there was a small table sculpture. You could freely choose the meter to buy.

The campaign was so well received by the citizens of Kassel that in March 2007 6000 “laser meters” and on June 12th the last two meters were sold (laser meters 5448 and 5449). On June 14, 2007, the fundraising campaign was officially ended.

literature

  • Magistrate of the City of Kassel (ed.): Laserscape Kassel - Horst H. Baumann - Light art in public urban space . Edition Plate, ISBN 3-9809281-7-9 (German; 48 pages; format: 14 cm × 17 cm; richly illustrated; created at the Kulturamt in cooperation with the documenta forum Kassel eV with texts by Harald Kimpel, photos by Thomas Rosenthal) .

Web links

Commons : Laserscape Kassel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files