Important awards of the event industry are presented in festive evening events during Prolight + Sound.
Opus – German Stage Award
The "Opus - German Stage Prize" honours productions that have created special visitor experiences with innovative use of event technology. The Opus has been awarding prizes to outstanding personalities and projects since 1995. The focus is on the technical implementation of theatre and musical productions, concerts and tours as well as corporate events.
Winner 2023
Pandaemonium at Staatstheater Kassel: 60 tonnes of scaffolding material against the Covid tristesse
As hard as the restrictions of the past few years have hit the entire event industry, so great is the amount of creativity and visionary power that the pandemic has unleashed among many professionals in the arts, culture and stage business. The Pandaemonium is downright emblematic of the forward-looking approach to the challenges of the crisis. Not only did the innovative stage concept provide maximum planning security through the extended distance between the individual visitor seats. The team around Florian Lutz (Intendant/Artist Director Staatstheater Kassel, Director of Wozzeck), Sebastian Hannak (Scenographer) and Mario Schomberg (Technical Director) also succeeded in exploring new theatrical forms of use and successfully realised a visionary concept.
As a three-story, cross-shaped installation on the main stage, back stage as well as the side stages, the Pandaemonium connected the auditorium with the different performance areas into a space for shared theatrical experience. The entire stage was equipped with a scaffolding construction with a total height of 7.90 meters – a 16-metre-long bridge led diagonally across the main stage area and connected the side stages. The orchestra was located in the centre of the stage, while up to 270 audience members were seated around the stage area on all three floors of the complex construction. The scenographic concept allowed the performers to move freely within the entire installation, which led to completely new possibilities for involving the audience in the productions. In addition to the large screens, numerous flat screens ensured that the stage action, which was spread throughout the entire space, could be seen from every seat. Video artist Konrad Kästner was responsible for the video concept and video design of the two opera productions.
The openness to explore new approaches was an essential element right from the start of the project. Prior to the set-up, the planning and preparation took place in digital space due to the pandemic. Vincent Kaufmann, a member of the “digital.DTHG” team of the German Theatre Technical Society, modelled the project virtually and accompanied the entire production process digitally – from the first sketches to the stage mockup with VR Headsets until the premiere. In times of contact restrictions, this approach was an elementary foundation for the successful cooperation of all those involved.
The architect Oliver Mann supervised the project as construction manager, Björn Schmidt-Hurtienne from EHS was in charge of the statics, and head of workshops Harald Gunkel supervised the building of the set design within the installation. As head of the sound department, Karl-Walter Heyer and his team were responsible for the operation of the spatial sound system. Stage manager in charge Andreas Lang and his fellow stage managers as well as the stage technicians and props department under the direction of Anne Schulz contributed a lot in advance to the preparation and supervision during the run of Pandaemonium.
Sinus – Systems Integration Award
The Sinus honours outstandingly creative and artistic achievements and solutions with respect to the use of technology in audio-visual installations. The award has been given annually at Prolight + Sound since 2004. The jury and the trustees of the award comprise representatives of the German Media and Event Technology Association (VPLT), the European Association of Event Centres (EVVC) and other experts from the sector, as well as representatives of the trade press and Messe Frankfurt.
With a parallel world of light, space and sound, "Dark Matter" explodes the boundaries between the real and digital worlds. Since 2021, the exhibition, created by lighting artist Christopher Bauder together with the design studio WHITEvoid, has been merging light, movement and sound into emotional choreographies of luminous shapes and colours in an industrial area in the south-east of Berlin. In the pitch-black rooms of a former factory site, visitors embark on a journey through seven immersive worlds brought to life with elaborate light installations, kinetic elements, projection mapping and 3D sound.
Sinus winner 2023: Dark Matter AV Installation, Berlin
Sinus winner 2023: Dark Matter AV Installation, Berlin
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Since 2021, the exhibition in an industrial area in south-east Berlin merges light, movement and sound into emotional choreographies of luminous shapes and colours. On an area of 1000 m², “Dark Matter” presents multimedia installations from intimate, small light compositions to room-filling, audiovisual shows with a groundbreaking 3D sound system. Each room unfolds its own individual atmosphere and, at the same time, is part of a holistic experience.
Right from the start, visitors to the initial exhibit, “Liquid Sky”, are immersed in a sea of countless points of light that, through their reflection in the room, convey the feeling of a never-ending horizon. The next room, “Inverse”, features kinetic elements and makes 169 black spherical elements appear to come alive against a bright background. The journey continues to the “Circular” installation, where three light rings create an interplay of unity and individuality. A contemplative atmosphere is created by the “Bonfire” exhibit, a virtual campfire simulated using state-of-the-art technology. The fifth room, “Polygon Playground”, presents a seamless, interactive 360° projection onto a central object that reacts to the visitors’ movements via sensors. In the “Grid” room, an impressive spatial sculpture floats and symbolises the fusion of the digital and the physical with kinetics, light and music. Finally, at the “Tone Ladder”, visitors can intuitively create their own worlds of sound by means of movement and touch.
Through the outstanding interaction of artistic ambition and innovative technical implementation, “Dark Matter” fulfils the requirements for winning the Sinus in an exemplary manner. The creators are planning to continuously develop the exhibition as a “living organism” in cooperation with other technology partners and to integrate changing installations.
More information about “Dark Matter“