Client: GyeongGi Cultural Foundation

Overview

Visions in Motion, by artist Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics, is an awe-inspiring public art installation representing the power of unity and the universal longing for peace. This large-scale, interactive artwork debuted at the Brandenburg Gate in Germany in 2019 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall as the central installation at Kulturprojekte Berlin’s Maurfall Festival, a city-wide celebration. Subsequently, the artwork traveled to the Korean Demilitarized Zone in 2022 for the Let’s DMZ Peace Arts Festival, curated by the GyeongGi Cultural Foundation. The traveling installation is comprised of 120,000 strips of sailcloth which bear handwritten messages from the public all over the world expressing their wishes and hopes in over ten languages. This captivating artwork continues to facilitate a global conversation by and for the people by bringing the public together and visualizing a collective voice of hope.

Goals

The goal of the Let’s DMZ Peace Arts Festival is to promote peace and coexistence while highlighting the environment and culture in the Demilitarized Zone. For this iteration of the installation, Poetic Kinetics presented the sculpture in an 800-foot curved, wall-like form to symbolize the bending of the border between North and South Korea. The accessible and participatory format of the artwork allowed the Korean public to contribute messages of positivity, unity, and peace to the artwork, joining tens of thousands of messages already presented within the fabric of the work.

For the 30th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall, curators sought a symbol for the unification of the German people. During the Peaceful Revolution, hundreds of thousands of people raised their voices and contributed to changing the tide of history. In honor of those who dared to speak up for peace and freedom, an international message collection campaign curated a contemporary voice of the people that was woven into the artwork. Displayed in an aerial format, the 20,000-square-foot installation elevated these messages into the air, soaring together in unison. The artwork was periodically lowered to facilitate contemplative moments of reading and ongoing message contribution for the public.

Process

Poetic Kinetics partnered with Kulturprojekte Berlin, the Brewery Art Colony and the Wende Museum in Los Angeles, and the GyeongGi Cultural Foundation in Korea to facilitate message collection from the public prior to and during the exhibitions. In addition to contributions from people worldwide in over a dozen countries, dignitaries and celebrities from then-Chancellor Angela Merkel to actor David Hasselhoff and Nobel Peace Prize Winners to K-Pop stars have participated in the artwork.

Over 1 million visitors visited the exhibition in Berlin in the span of ten days. Approximately 12,000 more attended the installation in Korea. Cumulatively, Poetic Kinetics has captured approximately 50,000 messages in the artwork.

Additional Information

Visions in Motion is a part of Shearn’s signature Skynet Series, inspired by the beauty of murmuration – the phenomenon of starlings flocking together in mesmerizing unison. Visions in Motion is uniquely participatory, symbolizing the voice of the people. With tens of thousands of messages collected from all over the world— the artwork is forming an open letter for hope and unity written by the global public. “Art transcends borders and tugs at the thread of our common humanity,” shared Shearn. “Here I strive to use my artwork as a platform for bringing people together in the spirit of hope and action.”