The Bram Stoker Festival has always been about the ability of art to transform the ordinary. This year’s festival will be no different, featuring the Irish debut of Borealis – a spectacular audiovisual artwork that will recreate the aurora borealis at Dublin Castle.
Swiss artist Dan Archer’s unique art installation can be experienced for free across four nights, from October 28th-31st.
The Bram Stoker Festival is an initiative created by Dublin City Council to celebrate the legacy of author Bram Stoker. The festival takes place in Dublin Castle’s upper courtyard, where he once worked. Each year it incorporates art into a major outdoor spectacle, such as film scores, theatre productions and circus performances.
This year’s Borealis installation will be a mesmerising blend of art and technology combining a custom soundtrack by Guillaume Desbois with a complex, colourful lightshow to transform Dublin’s sky.
The Borealis installation has exhibited worldwide in cities such as Paris, London and Tokyo. The aim of the piece is to bring strangers together to share in a magical experience. The lush visuals and tranquil soundtrack allow audiences to slow down and witness a rare natural phenomenon. Archer aims to bring the extraordinary to everyday life, by recreating the Northern Lights in an ordinary urban setting.
Archer believes that artistic and immersive installations can transform a neighbourhood. At the core of Borealis is the sense of isolation and loneliness experienced in modern day society.
In a technology obsessed world, there is a growing sense of separation in the human experience. Through his art installations, Archer aims to recreate the sense of community that is often lacking in modern towns and cities.
In the past, Archer has worked on social experiments that examine how certain objects can create pride in their communities. In one instance, Archer and his friend set up a neighbourhood exchange box which allowed people to donate and exchange items they didn’t need. The box soon became an integrated part of the neighbourhood, with over 40 boxes installed across Switzerland and 100,000 items being exchanged. People also took responsibility for the boxes by cleaning them and protecting them from vandalism. The artist was fascinated by the change these objects inspired in the community and resolved to make further art installations.
Archer believes that people want to be useful in their communities. Borealis aims to create this sense of inclusion by integrating people into the installation. As the lightshow is projected onto the city, the people inhabiting it become a central part of the art. By transforming ordinary city spaces with Borealis, Archer hopes to bring a renewed sense of joy and belonging to the urban environment.
Borealis runs at Dublin Castle as part of the Bram Stoker Festival from October 28th–31st, 6.30pm–10.30pm.
