CIRCADIAN COOPERATION

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BUGS AT CPH LIGHT FESTIVAL 2022

CIRCADIAN COOPERATION is a platform for work on biodiversity issues. We carry out collaborative projects that can take many forms but have a common goal: to create debate and discuss how we want to shape our future in relation to nature.

LIGHT-POLUTION AND BIODIVERSITY

Two-thirds of the planet’s animals, birds and insects are nocturnal. Humans, the dominant species on the planet, are not. In a time of mass extinction of species, it would be good to pause for reflection about that.

The night sky in a big city can be as much 1200 times brighter than an unlit night sky. Who is all this light for? Artificial light is a human invention. It has helped develop and shape our world but only a small part of all this light is actually useful. The rest is light pollution, changing natural habitats for tens of thousands of species. Research is only just beginning to understand the impact.

Natural light and dark were steady for millennia. They give life a rhythm to live by – the circadian rhythm. It is thrown out of balance by so much light. That affects all of us – humans, bats, birds, mammals, insects and all. So our wellbeing is also at stake.

With Circadian Cooperation:

We want to draw on scientific knowledge and experience from people working in the field and translate it into projects that help to change the way we use light.
In our art practice and our projects, we want to turn away from the abuse of the natural balance of night and day and create poetic experiences for us to enjoy.
We want to focus on the quality of light instead of its quantity.

The good news is that change is not hard and will benefit all (and by ‘all’, we are talking about everything living on this planet). We have the knowledge and the technology to make the changes . It won’t feel like a loss if we do it right. And we should start now.

THIS IS A MANIFESTO

Circadian Cooperation is working to:

Spread knowledge & create debate.
Make pilot projects in parks and green areas as test cases for learning and research.
Create art works where art and science can meet exploring the topic.
Build networks and connect initiatives nationally and internationally so the work can grow and spread.

MEMBERS so far: Åsa Frankenberg, Sara Jörn, Malene Sakskilde, Nina Maria Klok

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PROJECT 1:

BUGS - The Day of the Dead

BUGS is a light installation originally produced for the Light Festival in Copenhagen, February 2022, in Remise Park. The project received full funding from Copenhagen Light Festival & Københavns kommune. In September 2022, it was installed in Fælledparken, Copenhagen.

BUGS are 10 lantern sculptures shaped like the heads of various species of insects. These large lanterns are created to hang on the existing light poles in the Remise Park, Copenhagen. The project uses only the light that is already generated and adjusts it with the lanterns as shades, thus reducing light spreading from the lamps.

In the movement of the night air, the lanterns look like billowing masks, large glowing sculptures. These are not depictions of real insects; the masks exaggerate and play with insects’ characteristics and features to bring out something magical, fantastic but also scary and disturbing.

As in the Day of the Dead, a festival that carries both joy of memory and grief, these insect-like representations commemorate insects that are dead because of light pollution. The project speaks about the impact of light pollution on nocturnal creatures.

The shapes and designs were developed together with a group of design students from the Royal Academy of Arts, Copenhagen. There were workshops with school children aged 10-12 who made their own insects' heads after an inspirational trip out in nature together with a biologist. Then details and patterns are added to the original shapes to create these fantastic and magical heads.

PRODUKTION AT FABRIKEN JAN 2022

INSTALLATION IN FÆLLEDPARKEN AUGUST 2022