Lighting Guerrilla: Reality

For the second year in a row, the festival will take place in accordance with the preventative measures to limit the COVID-19 pandemic, which have not been easy on cultural life. Last year's reality kept the producers uncertain until the very last moment – but hopefully once again everything turns out according to plan and warm spring nights can be filled with delights art and light can provide.

This year's projects are inspired by reality, which is also the overall festival topic. The reality surrounding us is many-faceted and experienced in a distinctly subjective manner. The festival topic aims to expose the deceptive and evasive nature of reality which often depends on our emotions or perception, as well as to address some of the key problematics which shape our reality today, simultaneously shedding light on our future. Participating artists have approached reality in extremely different ways: one of the most prominent themes seems to be ecology and concern for the planet's and human fate, which is often revealed through distinctly dystopian, even gloomy tones.

This time, Match Gallery hosts three projects by local and international artists. In the main room, an ambiental installation by the Polish artist Rober Sochacki is conceived as an alienated meditation space. Intentional “glitches”, various crackling and rustling sounds, as well as psychedelic colour tones encourage the visitor to observe and reflect on the duality of two separate realities – the natural, sensual world is opposed by its digitalised and dehumanised counterpart. Italian artist Alessandro Lupi presents two works, "Shadows" and "Seconds": these projects challenge human senses, minds and our perception of time and space in a humorous way. Lupi creates distorted versions of reality, revealing gaps in time and space, showing how unreliable and distorted our perception of the world really can be. Slovenian duet Beam Team (Stella Ivšek, Anja Romih) is joined by software developer Aleš Zupanc and sound designer Črt Trkman to present an interactive installation exploring perceptual loops of audible and visual reality. In this mapped video projection supported by sound, the main role is played by the visitor, who prompts various states of virtual reality, all the while being followed by a giant animated eye.

—Matjaž Brulc