Wissenschaftspark / Science Park

The “Wissenschaftspark” with its striking glass front facing the park was built in the 1990s on the grounds of the former Thyssen Cast Steel Works and the disused Rheinelbe mine. The 300-metre-long arcade provides access to the whole building complex through an interior public gallery. At night, its transparent shell is illuminated completely in blue, green and yellow light. This light experience, which can be perceived from both inside and outside, is created by US artist Dan Flavin’s installation. To achieve this, three “trees” made of standard neon tubes, each with a vertical blue trunk and yellow branches mounted at right angles, were attached to the elevator shafts inside the building. The light floods the interior and radiates outside through the glass front, where it is reflected on the adjacent smooth surface of water.
Flavin has been working with standard fluorescent tubes since the early 1960s, arranging them in so-called “Situations” and developing them further into series and ultimately site-specific light installations. The colours and dimensions of the materials used were pre-determined by their industrial manufacture. The flood of light turns the audience themselves into part of the works: The space and the objects in it are put in relation to each other and become an immersive art experience which creates an intense, almost spiritual experience – something the artist did not intend but accepted in retrospect. Flavin is considered one of the major representatives of Minimal Art and was one of the first light artists.