site-specific intervention Prora / Ruegen / Germany
bulb is a site-specific intervention located in the ruins of the former KDF seaside resort (KDF Seebad) in Prora, on the Island of Ruegen, Germany. The site, an in its substance almost completely preserved complex of nearly four kilometer long buildings, is highly frequented by tourists and sightseers during daylight hours. When night falls, the site - cut off of power supply and any other infrastructural facility - becomes a ghost town. An apparently endless facade submerged in darkness. The installation bulb breaks this sequence of thousands of black windows - fills a room with electric light and the impression of an inhabited space.
photography: Miguel Jose Gonzalez-Gonzalez
Technical description:
bulb consists entirely of components available at the local hardware store in the city of Bergen near the site. A small, modified photovoltaic panel - mounted on the roof of Wing 2, in the southern part of the complex. A modified 220V light bulb - installed in a room underneath and some wire.
To make the 220V light bulb light up with only 3.6 Volts provided by the recharchable batteries in the photovoltaic panel, the filament and glass parts inside the light bulb has been removed and replaced by super bright white LEDs.
During daylight, the recharchable batteries are charged by the photovoltaic panel. When the amount of light declines under a certain number, the panel switches and the light bulb lights up -
until the batteries are empty and the cycle restarts with sunrise.
If you like to get more information about the former KDF seaside resort in Prora, please visit the Website of the Prora Documentation Centre
This project has been possible due to the great support of Miguel Jose Gonzalez-Gonzalez, the people working at the Prora Documentation Centre and Hubert Lobnig, Alexander Glandien and Miriam Bajtala from Kunstuniversität Linz - Department for Experimental Art, who organiced the trip to Prora.