4 min read1 Yvette Mattern – Norway Bergen Lights, Bergen, 2020, photo: Jan Lillebo
What was Global Rainbow?
Global Rainbow, After the Storm is a monumental outdoor laser installation by American artist Yvette Mattern1, viewable to millions of New Yorkers. Organized in response to Hurricane Sandy, the artist projected seven beams of high power laser light2 over communities hit hard by the storm, originating on Manhattan’s3 Lower West Side and spanning across Brooklyn toward the Rockaways.
What inspiread this work?
The installation aimed to symbolize hope and act as a call to action to support the communities devastated by the storm. The artwork illuminated the night sky and was visible for up to 35 miles. Despite its significant range, the lasers used a minimal amount of power, approximately the equivalent of two hairdryers. Global Rainbow has been presented throughout Europe and launched the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad in England and Northern Ireland.
Yvette Mattern is a visual artist who lives between New York and Berlin. She holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University’s Film Division. Mattern works mainly with video and film, which she fuses with elements of performance, public, art and sculpture. Mattern’s video Last Day of Magic was included at the 53rd Venice Biennale Official Satellite Program in 2009, and her work has also been exhibited at the Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway; Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen, Innsbruck, Austria; and Freies Museum, Berlin.
Selected laser installations
Global Rainbow, New York City, 2009
3 Yvette Mattern – Global Rainbow, New York City, 2009, photo: Peter Norrman4 Yvette Mattern – Global Rainbow, New York City, 2009, photo: Peter Norrman5 Yvette Mattern – Global Rainbow, New York City, 2009, photo: Peter Norrman6 Yvette Mattern – Global Rainbow, New York City, 2009, photo: Peter Norrman
After the Storm, Standard Hotel, 2012
7 Yvette Mattern – After the Storm, Standard Hotel 2012, photo: James Ewing/Art Production Fund8 Yvette Mattern – After the Storm, Standard Hotel 2012, photo: James Ewing/Art Production Fund9 Yvette Mattern – After the Storm, Standard Hotel 2012, photo: James Ewing/Art Production Fund10 Yvette Mattern – After the Storm, Standard Hotel 2012, photo: James Ewing/Art Production Fund11 Yvette Mattern – After the Storm, Standard Hotel 2012, photo: James Ewing/Art Production Fund12 Yvette Mattern – After the Storm, Standard Hotel 2012, photo: James Ewing/Art Production Fund13 Yvette Mattern – After the Storm, Standard Hotel 2012, photo: James Ewing/Art Production Fund
New Haven, 2013
14 Yvette Mattern – New Haven, 2013, photo: Harold Shapiro15 Yvette Mattern – New Haven, 2013, photo: Harold Shapiro16 Yvette Mattern – New Haven, 2013, photo: Harold Shapiro17 Yvette Mattern – New Haven, 2013, photo: Harold Shapiro
21 Yvette Mattern – Jean Nouvel building, Marseille, France, 2018, photo: Georges Robert22 Yvette Mattern – Jean Nouvel building, Marseille, France, 2018, photo: Georges Robert
All images by Yvette Mattern unless otherwise noted.
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