Skies over Snaefell, 2012
1536 led lamps, computer, software, controllers, aluminum panels
750 x 480 cm
Snæfell, a remote Icelandic mountain, is a magical and unique place. The kaleidoscopic skies above its peak and the constantly changing colors of the surrounding landscape make it a major and much photographed attraction. 'Skies over Snaefell', a light installation by Allard van Hoorn (1968, the Netherlands), represents these changing skies. A computer continuously trawling the Internet for images of Snæfell controls the installation’s iridescent globes in transient hues. The Internet images are indexed and software separates the skies from the mountain. Van Hoorn’s eerily beautiful work shows us the Internet-based abstract reality of the skies over Snæfell, which may be all that remains of it if our natural surroundings are not protected for posterity.
'Skies over Snaefell' came into being as a three-way collaboration between De Appel arts center, Amsterdam, the Mondriaan Fund and Van Hoorn.