For the first time, Prague Castle became part of the Signal Festival, which starts in the capital this Thursday. Until Sunday, October 13, they will present more than twenty audiovisual installations. People can always see them from seven in the evening until midnight. Fifteen of them are to be freely accessible, for the other seven it will be necessary to buy a ticket.
The show focused on digital art will officially begin this Thursday from 7 p.m. in front of the Archbishop’s Palace on Hradčanské náměstí. Here, people will see a video mapping about the origin and development of life forms called Eternal Recurrence by digital creator Filip Hodas with musical accompaniment by producer Pavel Ridoška alias Rida. It will be accessible for free.
Route through the Castle
The Signal Festival entered the Prague Castle grounds for the first time since 2013, when it was founded. This year, the Castle is part of the first festival route. It leads through Hradčany, measures approximately two kilometers and includes seven installations.
The first stop is the Equestrian Hall of the Prague Castle with a colorful projection created by Korean artist Seohyo from elements of Prague architecture. She was inspired by the principles of tapestry weaving, castle decoration or mosaic floor patterns.
Next comes the so-called gallery zone. In the Šternber Palace, it will be possible to see three monumental static objects by Jiří Příhoda, constructed on the precise foundations of Cartesian geometry and proportional canons of classical architecture. An interactive projection by Michael Bielický and Kamila B. Richter is to be placed in the Schwarzenberg Palace. This work can be controlled by the viewers themselves via a rudder in the middle of the courtyard, changing the elements on the walls.
The building of the Spanish studio SpY is located in the South Gardens of Prague Castle. | Photo: CTK
People will also get free access to the South Gardens of Prague Castle, where they will see an object mirroring their surroundings by the Spanish studio SpY. The creators were inspired by Egyptian history.
The first route then ends at the Kunsthalle Prague gallery, where the British group United Visual Artists, known for their collaboration with the band Massive Attack or the musician James Blake, is exhibiting. The centerpiece of their Strange Attractions project is a kinetic double pendulum and a large-format projection attached to it.
“One of the arms is under motorized control, the other, on the other hand, brings elements of chaos and unpredictability into the work,” explain the authors, according to whom the work relates precisely to chaos or topics such as artificial intelligence. It will be on display at the Kunsthalle until January 13.
Do centra
The second festival route leads through the city center, the festival collaborated with Laterna magika on it. Visitors will see, for example, the video mapping The Rhythm of the Ocean by the Spanish-Danish visual duo Desilence, which transforms the facade of the Municipal Library on Mariánské náměstí into an abstract ray on the bottom of the ocean.
The Baroque refectory of the Dominican monastery will host the Silent Echoes audio installation by sound art pioneer Bill Fontana, connecting the bells of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris with the sounds of the ice caves of the Dachstein Alpine massif. The route through the center ends with a stop at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning. There it will be possible to watch the Effets de Soir video series by an artist who calls himself Quayola. The name refers to the natural phenomena visible at dusk and dawn, when lights and shadows and warm and cold tones blend into one another.
Simultaneously with the festival, the first annual Signal Forum conference takes place, where experts will talk about technologies or new media. The festival map will help visitors with their orientation, and a printed guide is also available.
Signal is a festival of digital and creative culture. It combines contemporary visual art, urban space and modern technology. According to director and founder Martin Pošta, he wants to bring the most modern art to the widest possible audience. “We believe that art should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial situation,” he said some time ago.