Former artist-in-residence Celyn Bricker @ Documenta 15

Former resident Celyn Bricker is currently showing his ‘Lighthouse’ series of pieces at at Documenta 15 with the Collective ‘Wagiwagi’. ‘Lighthouse’ is a project that is designed to prevent bird collisions with buildings using UV technology , which Celyn began while at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel.

The series shown at Documenta 15 are prototypes for the glass that will be used in the ‘Terracotta Embassy’ project, which is a collaboration between Wagiwagi and the Indonesian Collective Jatiwangi Art Factory. The Embassy is designed with sustainable principles in mind, and the Lighthouse pieces will form part of the architecture, making the building safer for the biodiversity in the area.

The designs for this series of Lighthouse came out of a collaboration between Celyn and Taiwanese plant hunter and scientist Hsin Chieh Hung, whose research has led him to discover hundreds of new and near-extinct plants in South East Asia. The designs on this glass are based on drawings Hsin made of his discoveries.

Under normal conditions the on ‘Lighthouse’ is invisible to the human eye and visible only to certain birds, animals, and insects; only under UV light is the design revealed. As well as having a practical function in reducing bird collisions with glass, this artwork series also explores the idea of non-human vision; the relationship we have with ‘hidden’ or easily overlooked aspects of nature; and the importance of considering urban environments from the perspective of the natural world.

Wagiwagi at Documenta 15
Until September 25th 2022
Hübner Areal, Kassel, Germany