Christoph Keller

Christoph Keller: »expedition-bus and shaman-travel« (Double Video-Projection on the Windscreen of a mirrored Campervan), 2002 is a project researching the parallels between ethnography and shamanism using scientific film-footage from the 50s and 60s. ( Sprengel Museum, Hannover, 2002)

helioflex :sun-mirrors following the sun automatically. long term project to bypass the social gradiant of access to sunlight in urban habitations. A shadowy space dramatically changes its atmosphere when it is suddenly illuminated by natural sunlight. Anyone who has experienced this effect will never forget the impression. In the past few years, architects have applied complex daylight systems to counteract the lack of light in the lower floors of large buildings. Yet a cheap and efficient device that would bring sunlight to individual living and working areas still does not exist.
"The presented prototype is provided by a light-sensitive sensor to trace the position of the sun. A simple mechanism transmits the movement of the sensor and simultaneously adjusts the mirror-position to just the right angle in order to keep the reflecting sunlight on the selected spot. The construction and the set-up of the device’s support is equal to that of individual satellite dishes used around the world. There is undoubtedly a need for this device. In the city of Berlin alone, at least 150,000 potential customers are waiting for the sun to rise in their dark homes.
The principal idea of the helioflex concept was to create an automatic device that could be inserted into the existing architecture and that would permanently reflect direct sunlight to a chosen point. The device must be inexpensive enough for those in dark homes to afford it.
The density of building generates a social gradient of sunlight in urban areas: The top floors bathe in the light that is missing in the bottom floors. The device bypasses this gradient and creates a connection to the outside world by reflecting natural light to spaces that have never seen the sun before. "