Mischa Kuball
«Mega Sign No. 1 at the Mannesmann Office Tower»

Light is the material that Mischa Kuball has been working with for many years. Independently of technical developments and possibilities, he has brought forth a series of conceptually rigorous works concerned for the most part with space.
In these pieces he uses mostly white light, either as accurately projected geometric rays, as a light-source for slide projection, or – as in the several parts of 'Megasigns' – in its everyday form as pure light produced by lamps either in or outside the exhibition space. Architecturally interesting, or otherwise imposing or important buildings, are the starting points for Mischa Kuball's light-pieces.
'Megasigns' was part of the public nocturnal urban environment, and for seven weeks transformed into a bearer of signs in light the high-rise office building on the banks of the Rhine of Mannesmann telecommunications in Dusseldorf. At night, the lights remained lit in certain rooms and corridors, the illuminated windows together forming a widely visible symbol. The natural alternation of light and dark, day and night were incorporated into the phenomenon, as well as a calendar-like rhythm marked by a weekly changing of the signs on the multi-storey surface of the building, the series only becoming complete at the end of the work's existence. By situating the piece away from museums, exhibition spaces or other art institutions, the artist reached an audience of millions in this populous city. With 'Megasigns', Mischa Kuball animates a sphere between architecture's inner and outer borders and the structural make-up of a city.