31.5 PEOPLE COUNTER

An illuminated arch registers every visitor who walks through it and displays a growing number above the entrance. An everyday act of passing through becomes conscious participation, while the accumulated number offers a visible measure of shared presence and of what people have experienced during the festival.

This is a light artwork in the Art Academy of Latvia student programme. The exhibition of works by students of the Latvian Academy of Arts forms part of the artistic narrative of Kronvalda Park route of light “Awaken!”. The works encourage visitors to pause, notice their surroundings and become aware of their own presence. Breath, conversation, an impulse of light, the flow of people and the temporary transformation of a familiar place create a transition from an individual moment to a shared experience.