Particles Ensemble _ ZKM Karlsruhe DM Awards _ 1st Prize
16–08–2023 
PARTICLES ENSEMBLE
DM AWARD 1st Prize

Media scenography - interactive urban installation

Particles Ensemble is a large-scale interactive media scenography awarded first prize at the DM Award Karlsruhe, initiated by the Karlsruhe Cultural Office (Kulturamt) within the framework of Media Art Is Here, in collaboration with ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, as part of the UNESCO City of Media Arts program.

The project unfolds across different spatial and temporal layers of the city. During the daytime, an interactive screen installed at ZKM communicates in real time with a second screen located at the Tourist Information Office along the castle axis. This system establishes a visual and interactive pathway through the city, connecting key cultural institutions and inviting visitors to engage with the project before reaching the castle area.

In the evening, the project culminates in a large-scale interactive projection on the Karlsruhe Palace façade.
By activating the open space in front of the building, it’s transformed into an interactive stage, while the architecture becomes a responsive projection surface.
Visitor movements are captured in real time and translated into abstract particle systems projected onto the façade, turning human presence into a dynamic visual composition.

The intensity, density and lifespan of the particle formations directly depend on audience participation. As more people enter the space and interact, the visual system becomes increasingly complex and vibrant. Media scenography is conceived here as a performative spatial system in which architecture, movement and projection are inseparably linked. Rather than functioning as a passive screen, the building becomes an interface that reflects collective behavior. Particles Ensemble explores scenography as a social and spatial choreography, where the public actively shapes the visual and perceptual experience through bodily presence and movement.




Credits

Concept & production- Overlapping studio Berlin
Simone Serlenga - Media Scenography
Simone Franco - Real time Motion design
Sub Human Bros - Sound Design
Yutaka Sakamoto - Music Composer
Makoto Sakamoto - Music Producer
video & photo - deinich.eu
@overlapping_studio
@serlengasimone
@schlosslichtspielekarlsruhe
@zkmkarlsruhe








Premiere on 16 August 2024
Schlosslichtspiele Karlsruhe
ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medien Karlsruhe

Simone Serlenga_Media Scenography
Simone Franco_Generative Artist+Real-time motion designer
@makoto_sakamoto_recordings Sound Design
Production_Overlapping Studio Berlin
@schlosslichtspielekarlsruhe
@zkmkarlsruhe

©overlapping
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info@overlapping.de
©overlapping
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info@overlapping.de