CHAOS//LOOP 2023: Christof Babinsky is exhibiting at the Venice Architecture Biennale

Whether as an artist or entrepreneur, breaking the boundaries of the expected is a recurrent theme for Christof Babinsky. For the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Managing Director of ASB GlassFloor has created ten works of art that draw on the possibilities of the digital world and explore the dynamics between art, artists and algorithms. The works are displayed on the LED panels he developed, the Digital Wallpaper, which also expands the design scope of architecture and is now being transferred to a new context in Venice.

Christof Babinsky’s debut in the art scene is a prominent one in the European Cultural Center’s "Time Space Existence" exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023. A fitting occasion since the exhibition highlights NFTs and the documentation of their manufacturing processes: topics that have interested Babinsky for a long time. During his studies in "Sustainability and Systems Management" in 2008, he already experimented with the medium of photography at the interface of new technologies and traditional art. With the blockchain and NFTs, the opportunities expanded once more – even if Christof Babinsky takes a critical view of the boom in NFT art: "The NFT hype is dead, the technology remains. "

He is driven by technology and its possibilities, whether as a businessman, artist or an inspirer of architectural solutions. His works for the Biennale also play with these subjects: for the ten NFT exhibits entitled CHAOS//LOOP 2023, he uses the medium of a "digital camera" to create unpredictable chaos creations by pointing a camera at its own screen. This produces a visual feedback loop fed by various images, such as pictures by other artists or the flame of a lighter. The process results in chaotic yet hypnotic patterns generated autonomously. Babinsky then meticulously analyses them and selects from the consolidation of these artworks. Physical objects persist as moving images through the use of a digital camera employed on the basis of the feedback principle. It is a fascinating interplay between the digital and the analog world aimed at discovering the unknown in art.

Innovative LED technology

The "canvas" for the NFT artworks is an innovation by Christof Babinsky himself: the ASB GlassFloor "Digital Wallpaper", which makes it possible to project different images onto wall areas using LED technology. This creates high-quality architectural surfaces that permit the presentation of art and digital contents as an integral component of interior and exterior architecture.

"What we are doing is basically simple: we are using LEDs in the way they are usually used for advertising purposes," explains the artist and businessman Christof Babinsky. "Initially, we used this innovative idea in the sports area, where the floor of a hall can be converted from a handball to a volleyball court at the push of a button, for example. Then we realised that the scope for the use of this technology is considerably larger." For Babinsky and his team, it's all about creating spatial experiences. They make it possible for architects and designers to satisfy the human desire for variety, and to utilize spaces in a multifunctional way. They can also promote interaction or inspire emotions. The glass surface can be used in a variety of ways, as it is both scratch-resistant and robust, as well as easy to clean and non-reflective. "It also has a matte finish," explains Christof Babinsky. "So you never see a single LED, but always the whole image. The glass surface, which is backlit by light spots, therefore looks like a canvas. The image on this digital canvas can either be detailed or more grainy, depending on the chosen pixel pitch."

Applicable in architecture and art: the Digital Wallpaper

The areas of application for the technology are wide-ranging: In a restaurant, you could be sitting in a different city every night: one evening beneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the next in the Californian sun – even though the restaurant always remains stationary. If the Digital Wallpaper serves as an interactive commercial space, pop-up stores could change their offerings every week - without any remodeling. Work environments could be designed more attractive. The innovation can enrich educational offers in museums as well as shopping malls, train stations and airports.

With CHAOS//LOOP 2023, Christof Babinsky has added another aspect to the range of applications, and has combined a technical innovation with his artistic vision at the interface of architecture and design. This radical step will be shown to a larger audience for the first time at the Palazzo Mora within the scope of the Architecture Biennale. Christof Babinsky is represented by the gallery xcircle, which is specialised in digital art.