This enormous gas tank is now a wondrous, isolating work of art (video)
Once it stored enormous quantities of blast furnace and coal gas, but these days the Gasometer Oberhausen is a 385 foot tall cylindrical art gallery. Since the early 90s, the gargantuan storage tank has been host to more than a dozen art exhibitions, and its latest display puts its own absurd size front and center. 320° Licht plays on the gallery's tar-black walls, projecting optical illusions that make the surface appear to warp and bend. "This experience is based on the vastness of the Gasometer," explains project sound designer Jonas Wiese. "We tried to work with that expression to make the space bigger and smaller, to deform it and change its surface over and over while not exaggerating and overwriting the original effect of the room." According to the installation's creators, that effect is dwarfing. Viewers are left feeling small, even lost.
The emotionally taxing light show is powered by 21 Epson projectors, which collectively paint the tank's interior to a captivating, animated display. The display is part of The Appearance of Beauty exhibition in Oberhausen Germany, which runs until late December. Can't afford to fly out to Deutschland? No worries, the gallery has created a preview video - check it out below.
