Art Illumination: Hamburg-based light artist Michael Batz and flashing lights from Pfannenberg create the perfect stage for Gamescom

Hamburg, 8 August 2018. When Gamescom opens its doors from 21 to 25 August, the area surrounding the Cologne exhibition site will be bathed in magical light. In 2018, the world's largest trade fair for interactive entertainment is celebrating its tenth anniversary with "Light it up! 10 years of Gamescom", a spectacular lighting installation. Art Illumination by Hamburg light artist Michael Batz will create a breath-taking showcase for lots of the city’s famous buildings. Some eye-catching examples are the 85m tall Messeturm in Deutz, the Hohenzollern Bridge, the main railway station, the Cologne Tower, the Messehochhaus, as well as various hotels, buildings, ships on the Rhine and other bridges. Around 600 QUADRO R flashing lights from electrical engineering specialist Pfannenberg are being used at the Messeturm and the Hohenzollern Bridge. For Pfannenberg, this is not the first project of its kind: since 2003 the Hamburg-based company has been creating the champagne pearl effect at the Eiffel Tower in Paris using QUADRO flashing lights, and since 2008 the flashing lights have also been lighting up the Trinity Bridge, the TV Tower and the sky in St. Petersburg. Prime Minister Laschet of North Rhine-Westphalia and Mayoress Reker will officially switch on the Art Illumination in Cologne on 21 August at 9 pm.

Multi-award-winning light artist Michael Batz is experienced in pulling off spectacularly large-scale projects: he illuminated the Reichstag in Berlin using energy-saving lighting technology and bathed the Elbphilharmonie and the Port of Hamburg in blue light. These blue neon tubes and the Pfannenberg flashing lights will also be used at Gamescom in Cologne.

“We are delighted to carry out another project in collaboration with Michael Batz and the HG-Technik team, and to support it with our powerful QUADRO flashing lights. Our goal is to offer visitors to Gamescom a spectacle that they will always remember”, said Andreas Pfannenberg, CEO of Pfannenberg.

Michael Batz added: “In light art, light becomes the narrator, and the photographic image the story.” For the light artist, a city with all its built-up and public areas creates the perfect stage, offering more spaces, events, buildings, atmospheres and changes than practically any other. “Light creates new contexts, opens up perspectives, invigorates, marks the beginning of an urban story that is set in the glow of the night. Mobile, liquid and solid elements combine to create event images. Light also builds bridges, and settings on the water with mirroring effects, reflections and flowing movements are among the most beautiful moments that one could encounter. “Light it up!" will become a Cologne riverside story,” explained Batz.

The QUADRO R flashing lights work with XENON technology and produce flashes at irregular intervals, with a flash energy of 10 J. This creates 22 to 28 flashes per minute, with a maximum light intensity of 124 cd. To the observer, the combination of lots of lights gives the impression of sparkling. The flashing lights are mainly used for sophisticated and artistic illumination of buildings and other properties, both indoors and outdoors. They are also extremely resistant: aggressive environmental conditions, driving rain and condensation do not impair them at all. Their plastic housing, with IK08 impact resistance and high protection classes such as IP66/IP67, guarantee maximum robustness. The QUADRO R is designed for an ambient temperature between -40°C to +55°C. The service life of the flashing light far exceeds 10 million flashes; this is also evident in the Eiffel Tower, where the lights have been in use for around 15 years.

On-site setup of the lighting installation will be carried out by HG-Technik under the direction of Sascha Hamann from Norderstedt, who supports Michael Batz in all his lighting projects. After Gamescom, the installation will be dismantled and used in the artist's future projects. This means that the QUADRO R flashing lights from Pfannenberg could also be used again at the next "Blue Port" event in Hamburg.