Beauty of stagnation

On the campus of TU/e, lighting designer Michel Suk illuminated various buildings and landscape elements in full light in 2011. Large-scale installations slowly change color or display patterns in which chaos and order alternate dominance. As the light programs are interconnected, an impressive whole is created. Visitors walk through a landscape of light and color where perspectives and sightlines continuously provide different images. On the occasion of Philips’ 120th anniversary, the company supported Michel Suk.

The absolute highlight of this extensive installation is the Knowledge Gateway building. It serves as the backdrop for a collaboration between Michel Suk and composer Bart van Dongen. Accompanied by a brass ensemble and electronics, a choir of 150 to 200 singers performed Bart van Dongen’s new composition. Michel Suk provided a powerful visual counterpart through projections.

Due to the collaboration between Van Dongen and Suk from the project’s inception, light and sound are beautifully integrated. Both the visuals and the music of “Beauty of Stagnation” are based on the Fibonacci sequence, which describes growth processes in nature. In both media, small units stack up to form large and intricate structures. Lines grow into tree structures in the projections, or color patches evolve into fine mosaics. In the music, you can hear how spoken words and short sounds gradually develop into complex rhythms and clouds of sounds.