{"id":65751,"date":"2024-06-14T09:30:57","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T07:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazin.tu-braunschweig.de\/?post_type=kb_magazin&p=65751"},"modified":"2024-06-14T10:46:39","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T08:46:39","slug":"when-jellyfish-float-above-the-oker-river","status":"publish","type":"kb_magazin","link":"https:\/\/magazin.tu-braunschweig.de\/en\/m-post\/when-jellyfish-float-above-the-oker-river\/","title":{"rendered":"When jellyfish float above the Oker river"},"content":{"rendered":"

They float like ghosts over the Oker river, gently swaying in the wind: 20 transparent jellyfish peeking out from between the trees east of the Wendentorbr\u00fccke. The installation “West on Northwest” is one of 13 works of art on display on the Braunschweig Light Trail from 15 June. The jellyfish were created at the Institute for Architecture-Related Art<\/a> at TU Braunschweig, which is participating in this year’s light art exhibition with two projects. In addition to the jellyfish, ‘No trespassing’, which can be seen on the Sidonienbr\u00fccke, is also attracting attention.<\/p>\n

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Impressive! Picture credits: IAK\/TU Braunschweig<\/p><\/div>\n

The Institute for Architecture-Related Art (IAK) has long been concerned with the issues of resource scarcity and climate protection, which the IAK team also makes visible through artistic projects in public spaces. Under the direction of Professor Folke K\u00f6bberling, Bernd Schulz and Sina Heffner, the Institute has developed two projects for the 2024 Light Parcours. The students were asked to develop ideas on current social and environmental issues. Last summer, the institute presented six of the more than 30 designs at the Light Parcours model exhibition at the Braunschweig Kunstverein. A jury selected two of the designs, which dealt with the privatisation of drinking water and the warming and overfishing of the oceans, to be realised with the students.<\/p>\n

Jellyfish multiply due to warming seas<\/h3>\n

Even before the start of the light trail, the jellyfish had become a popular photo motif. Time and again, pedestrians and cyclists stop on the Wendentorbr\u00fccke bridge to admire the artwork and take pictures with their smartphones.<\/p>\n

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The jellyfish floating above the Oker are a popular photo motif. Picture credits: Bianca Loschinsky\/TU Braunschweig<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n

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How do plastics industry waste products become jellyfish? Picture credits: IAK\/TU Braunschweig<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n

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First of all, the material had to be moulded into the right shape. Picture credits: IAK\/TU Braunschweig<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n

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Installing the hooks to hang the jellyfish on the ropes above the Oker. Picture credits: IAK\/TU Braunschweig<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n

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Hanging the jellyfish above the Oker with pedal boats was a bit wobbly. Picture credits: IAK\/TU Braunschweig<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n

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The first two jellyfish are hanging. Picture credits: Bianca Loschinsky\/TU Braunschweig<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n

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The jellyfish are gently moved back and forth by the wind. Picture credits: Bianca Loschinsky\/TU Braunschweig<\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

But the swarm of jellyfish over the Oker is not just an eye-catcher, it is also intended to draw attention to a pressing problem: the warming of the world’s oceans is putting the ecosystem under stress and upsetting the balance of the underwater world. Some marine animals are migrating to colder waters or even dying. Jellyfish, on the other hand, are proliferating due to rising temperatures, overfishing and a lack of predators.<\/p>\n

Indicator of climate change<\/h3>\n

Architecture student Alma Barwitzki has created a striking image for this complex problem: jellyfish floating in the landscape of Niedersachsen. “When I first thought about our impromptu theme of ‘sustainability and water’, I immediately thought of a swarm of jellyfish,” says Alma Barwitzki. “They are an indicator of climate change.” The student from Stralsund has had her own experience of jellyfish swarms on the Baltic coast.<\/p>\n

The title of the intervention, “West to Northwest”, refers to the main wind direction in Northern Europe, which is now bringing the jellyfish as far as Braunschweig with the artwork. With this project, Braunschweig also becomes a coastal city. Together with the artists Sina Heffner and Bernd Schulz from the team of the Institute for Architecture-Related Art, the artistic intervention was further developed and realised. The jellyfish, made from waste from the plastics industry, now hang on ropes at different heights above the river. Black light spotlights make the jellyfish glow in the dark on the Wendentorbr\u00fccke every evening.<\/p>\n