DEEP WEB is a monumental immersive audiovisual installation and live performance created by light artist Christopher Bauder and composer and musician Robert Henke. 

Presented in the spectacular industrial space of KRAFTWERK BERLIN, DEEP WEB plunges audiences into a mesmerizing experience of space and time. Visitors immerse themselves in a gigantic amorphous sculpture of choreographed light and multidimensional sound. The luminous patterns of early digital communication become a fascinating sensory experience.

Until now, DEEP WEB has only been shown to the public twice for a short time. In early 2016, DEEP WEB was presented for the first time at KRAFTWERK BERLIN as a five-day preview during CTM, where it quickly became the highlight of the festival. The next performance took place during the Fête des Lumières in Lyon in December of the same year. In summer 2019, DEEP WEB will return to its iconic birthplace, where Berliners and city guests will have six weeks to take part in this breathtaking art experience.

Photos: Ralph Larmann

The space created by the installation consists only of light, yet it can be experienced in real life. 175 motorized spheres connect with 12 high power laser systems and weave into a superstructure 30 meters long, 20 meters wide and 10 meters high. The structure represents an analogy to the nodes and connections of digital networks. Moving up and down, choreographed and synchronized with an original multi-channel musical score by Robert Henke, the spheres are illuminated by blasts of colorful laser beams. The light drawings and arrangements of the laser web cut through the cavernous darkness of KRAFTWERK BERLIN and form an enormous three-dimensional sculpture. DEEP WEB is fleeting and ephemeral, each light arrangement lasts only for a moment. 

The installation brings together decades of independent research and experimentation by both Bauder and Henke, two artists with unique visions and passions for sound and light. Partnering up with the best and innovative companies working in these fields they managed to bring their complex ideas to life.

Michael Sollinger took a special interest in the project and its demanding coding aspects. He developed the dedicated software for the laser targeting system, providing it with unmatched realtime accuracy. His ongoing effort in pushing boundaries, his ideas, know-how and deep understanding of geometry, space and projection together with the knowledge of laser technology were indispensable in the creation of the artwork. The high-end laser systems are manufactured and supplied by LaserAnimation SOLLINGER.

The high precision motor winch systems with real-time feedback by KINETIC LIGHTS exceeded existing technological boundaries to turn the artistic concept into a technically feasible installation. The main control software developed by the design and art studio WHITEvoid provided a sophisticated platform for a creative exploration.

EXHIBITION & LIVE PERFORMANCE

Experience the two exciting sides of DEEP WEB:

The DEEP WEB exhibition continuously transforms and rearranges itself. Form, color, sound of the installation are in constant flux. Visitors are invited to drift away. Stay as long as you like! Watch DEEP WEB from different perspectives: standing, sitting, or lying down. Get inspired by a work of art that constantly reinvents itself.

​In the live performance, the artists present their personal interpretation of DEEP WEB. Let yourself be carried away and experience an expanded and intensified version of the animation cycle of the live cycle that evolves from calm pulse to rapid pace to luminous serenity to blazing energy. DEEP WEB becomes an instrument controlled in real time — no performance is like the other.