Refik Anadol to take over Kraftwerk with LED paintings

New arts foundation LAS Light Art Space is launching with a site-specific installation created by media artist and director Refik Anadol and taking over Kraftwerk, the vast 1960s East Berlin power plant. It is the first commission to be announced by the non-profit foundation, which will focus its projects on the intersection of art, science and new technologies – specifically how the medium of light is used by interdisciplinary artists to explore concepts of the future.

Anadol’s solo exhibition titled Latent Being will incorporate real-time interactivity and machine learning algorithms to transform the space with LED paintings. Born in Istanbul and based in Los Angeles, Refik Anadol’s work explores the complexities and the creative potential of machine intelligence. The installation opens on 23 November 2019.

Kraftwerk will also play host to accompanying events including musical performances by Holly Herndon and Amnesia Scanner, as well as other programming investigating artificial intelligence.

LAS Light Art Space will start off its commission series with installations at various international locations, with a view to establishing a permanent home in Berlin in future. Each project will be accompanied by LAS+, a programme to encourage dialogue and engagement between artists, scientists, writers, musicians and technologists.

The Foundation will also present LAS Satellites, long-term artist collaborations aiming to “emphasise natural phenomenon in rare settings, unimpacted by consequences of urban civilisation such as light pollution and noise,” explains the foundation in a statement.

Other artists on the LAS 2020-2021 programme include Laurie Anderson and Robert Irwin, with further details coming in early 2020. LAS is directed by an all-female core team directed by art historian Bettina Kames working with Kristina Leipold, formerly at Gropius Bau, and curator Agnes Gryczkowska, formerly a curator at the Serpentine Galleries.

Latent Being by Refik Anadol opens at Kraftwerk, Berlin on 23 November 2019.