realities:united (Jan & Tim Edler)
«BIX media facade»

BIX is a matrix of 930 fluorescent lamps integrated into the eastern Plexiglas facade of the Kunsthaus. Through the possibility to individually adjust the lamps’ brightness at an infinite variability with 20 frames/second images, films and animations can be displayed.

The BIX concept was initiated and developed by the Berlin based architects realities:united (Jan & Tim Edler). Coming from an outside office this additional architectural concept had to be merged short term into the ongoing planning work. This integration process was challenging for a diversity of reasons: after all BIX was a new element designed to entirely dominate the main facade of the Kunsthaus thereby radically redefining the architectural concept of the building’s skin.

The BIX media installation and the Kunsthaus’ architecture share a strong symbiotic relationship. The facade as a display extends the communication range of the Kunsthaus, complementing its programmatically formulated communicative purpose. In an abstract and mediated form the media facade transmits the internal processes of the Kunsthaus out into the public.

For the development of BIX central design features of conventional large screen displays had been abandoned in order to obtain a number of substantial advantages in exchange. On the one hand, the low image resolution imposes strong limitations. On the other hand, this ‹deal› enables both the modular structure and the huge size of the installation to be highly integrated into the architecture, covering practically the entire facade facing the riverside. Not a separately mounted video wall but the Kunsthaus itself radiates characters and images; thereby a maximum degree of integrity between building and image is achieved.

BIX is an experimental laboratory. As the content producer the Kunsthaus has the chance to develop methods for a dynamic communication between building and surroundings, between content and outside perception. Hence a unique form of communication, consisting of vocabulary, syntax and rhythm needs to be created. With BIX artists can research alternative cultural and artistic principles, whose implementations on commercially used propaganda surfaces are widely excluded.
The specialized software tools which also belong to the BIX project are of outstanding significance for the efficiency and precision of this creative work.

(Source: http://www.bix.at)