Anyone interested in light art throughout Europe will soon notice Detlef Hartung and Georg Trenz. The artist duo with geographical roots in Cologne and Munich has been staging light projections in public spaces since 1996. Language plays a major role in the works of Hartung and Trenz, which are projected as words, lines or alphanumeric codes over buildings, landmarks or parks. Each work refers to its geographical and historical context. Among the most famous project locations are the Cologne Cathedral, the Loreley Rock, the Fürstenfeld Monastery or the Medina of Tunis. The typography of the projected texts is modern, sans serif and forms a graphic unit beyond the content. The light art of Hartung and Trenz is often animated, using high-performance digital projectors. Classic slide and gobo projectors are used for static light projections. The “Enchanted Gardens” project, part of the International Festival of Light Art at Arcen Castle, enchants visitors in a field of tension between baroque, representative garden architecture and modern light art. The rose garden of the castle with its compositions of plants, ponds and historical buildings becomes a projection screen for the uppercase letters of Hartung and Trenz, grouped in words and lines. Analogue projection spotlights made by the specialist Derksen Lichttechnik from Gelsenkirchen are used. Durable glass gobos serve as projection templates, onto which the texts are engraved with the aid of a high-power laser. Optical distortions, a staggering in depth and finally a dissolving of the light projections in the distance are part of the artwork.
