bhs 130409 . Genius Loci Weimar

bhs 130409 . Genius Loci Weimar from sinsynplus on Vimeo.

Extremely condensed 30-second sample video for Genius Loci Weimar 2013.

This project engages with Weimar's synesthetic, shape-shifting heritage and carries deep appreciation for the Genius Loci disdain for cliches; too often the different mediums within 3D mapping get reduced to afterthought at the other's expense, i.e., visual over audio in commercial contexts especially.

Our visual homage is thus organically generated by sound reactive technology unique to this nascent art form and purposefully specific to this historic site that combined fine art with technical design.

We begin with light motes rising to mark the paradigm shift of Weimar Classicism, when the city coalesced new life on the world stage and collective notions of Geschichte grew unfettered from authoritarian prophecy. Windows illuminated in synch with the audio homage expand into colorful sequences expressing the myriad contributions of Weimar's composers, painters, and philosopher-poets. Playful experimentation with industry gives way to the Bauhaus getting menacingly pushed into exile.

The Bauhaus then recreates itself into iconic distillations that transcend period style and approach the universal, sharply countering dictatorship's narrow worldview, and educating artists beyond Weimar and Europe, reflected in the diversity of the team behind this project.

Our finale unfolds crystalline structures pulsing with sound and abolishing conventional notions of scale, strongly referencing Gropius's transformative visions for the future and the architecture of democratic societies. The Bauhaus sustains through industrialization and into the digital age, mirroring breakthroughs in cosmic understanding of space and genius loci: we create the energy that surrounds us; all of surrounding nature is reflected within. By extent, Weimar's history is far from static, as is its architecture.