In the light of creation
Munich's St. Mark's Church presents the creation story in a breathtaking multimedia light spectacle
o matter how you feel about religion, in the end you are inspired and fascinated by the impressions you have gained. Because ultimately the creation story, if one interprets it symbolically, differs only little from the knowledge of the evolution. Except for the triggering moment, of course. In Munich's St. Mark's Church, every evening until March 13, 2023, one can experience the miracle of the creation of the world in its beginnings according to the Genesis account of creation in an immense multimedia light show specially adapted to the special location. From the emergence of light, the unfolding of the sky and water, to the spreading of the land masses, to the flourishing of plants in fabulous flowering splendor. Only the human being does not appear in it. That does not disturb at all.
Sound and silence. Light and darkness. Sensory impressions unfold best through contrasts. And so, since mid-January up to and including March 13, 2023, Munich's St. Mark's Church has been inviting visitors to a very special kind of light spectacle during long and quiet winter evenings. The visual arts company "Aurorium", which specializes in light productions, together with the Zurich-based artist collective "Projektil", has designed a multimedia show specially adapted to the interior architecture of the church. Here, abstract and concrete image animations illustrate the beginning of the biblical creation story and flood the church interior in an all-encompassing sea of lights.
Das göttliche Licht wird raumgreifend und kennt dabei den Welle-Teilchendualismus der Physik.
At the beginning there is silence and darkness. Tentatively, the first particles of light emerge with "Day 1", spreading from the center of a stylized sun across the ceiling, the choir room and the side walls. Gradually, they become wavelike lines that trace the curves of the ceiling stucco with exact precision. The divine light becomes expansive, knowing the wave-particle dualism of physics. The opening sequence of "Urlicht", which relies on light-dark contrasts, is accompanied by the eponymous sounds of Gustav Mahler, before the structures on "Tag 2" change to blue streamlines, which become water and sky formations under dripping sounds, and with them the first single-celled organisms rise and fall as life forms in what feels like cool water.
Am zweiten Tag schuf Gott eine Weite, um das Wasser zu trennen und nannte sie "Himmel".
The third diurnal cycle is divided into two parts. Radial concentric structures, which look like the rings of Saturn, announce the formation of the land masses in an all-over in the church room. This is accompanied by sounds of Joseph Haydn.
Am dritten Tag schuf Gott den trockenen Boden und sammelte das Wasser. Er nannte den trockenen Boden "Land" und das gesammelte Wasser "Meere".
In the second part it comes to a crescendo. Plants in the form of leaves and flowers cover and overwhelm the room. Buds sprout and pop into blossoms as if in fast motion. The room is now immersed in an intense sea of color that celebrates nature in its grace and its processes of creation like a miracle. The last meditative part follows. It is separated from the actual creation story. Shining lanterns rise into the night sky. And indeed, the illusion is now created that the barrel vault of the church is being successively removed and that the building is opening upwards and the Munich night sky is receiving the radiantly ascending celestial bodies. After about half an hour, the magic is over. The astonishment in the form of open mouths continues to have an effect on the audience for some time. No matter whether they are believers or detached. Most of them leave the room in noticeable humility and disappear into the night to the lights of the big city, which may impress but hardly touch. The "Genesis" production with its numerous, yet invisible, high-performance projectors knows how to inspire unerringly.
Unlike the currently trendy light exhibitions on celebrated artists such as Vincent van Gogh or Frida Kahlo, which show immaterial projections instead of the qualitative originals almost as if in megalomania, the artist collective "Projektil" convinces with its own artistic animations that do not claim the rank of world art for themselves. Rather, in their aesthetics, they want to illustrate the creation account in a contemporary way in an ideal way. Occasionally, the splendor of the flowers, which takes over everything like fireworks, threatens to become kitschy, but as a viewer, one is overwhelmed by this condensation of creation with its exuberant diversity and richness until the end. Man does not appear until the end. And yet he is present in the form of the audience. He merely takes the role of the spectator. And that is figuratively a good thing.
Until March 13, 2023, one has the opportunity to see this light show in the St. Markus Church in Gabelsbergerstraße. Tickets at 15 euros, however, are hotly sought after.
More information can be found here:
in der St. Markus München: eine immersive Lichtshow (auroriumexperiences.com)
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