'starry night' plays with the expressionism of van gogh at amsterdam light festival 2018

architect ivana jelić and creative engineer pavle petrović, have created the ‘starry night’ installation as part of the amsterdam light festival 2018. the 53-day light art exhibition revolves around the theme ‘the medium is the message’- the statement made famous by the canadian scientist marshall mcluhan.

all images © janus van den eijnden

since the late 19th century, the impact of anthropogenic light on the environment has been rising rapidly on a global scale and the night sky full of stars, as van gogh’s starry night was, is unfortunately a rare sight these days. ‘starry night’ by jelić and petrović therefore aims to raise awareness about light pollution in cities and highlight the importance of proper lighting system design.

the artwork is located on a bridge at the intersection of two canals. the hillside village and trees of the original painting have been replaced by amsterdam’s own bridges and houses, and the brushstrokes by 1,400 acrylic rods that are illuminated by small LED lights. the installation enlarges the surface of night sky from the painting 150 times.

from afar, the installation resembles the original framed work of art, perceived as a whole within the rectangular boundaries. on closer inspection, the visitors are able to explore each swirl as if they were witnessing the actual starry night. light sources are placed at the ends of acrylic rods, so the light spread is perceived differently depending on the angle of each element.

project info:

project name: ‘starry night’

artists: ivana jelić and pavle petrović

location: amsterdam light festival 2018

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom