Audio Guide

1) Big Bang- Uxu Studio, Taiwan - The blue-lit bomb that they made, BIG BANG, is hanging threateningly in the air, just before it will hit the water (or maybe even the boat). It is meant to inspire your fear, but those who come closer will also discover another surprising side of the artwork: it is covered with soft feathers, which mysteriously light up and sometimes give way to hundreds of small, twinkling lights.

2) The Cracks, Karolina Haworko, Polen - For Haworko the tower symbolizes something much greater: the enormous forces in our current society, which cause climate systems, institutions, assumptions and traditions to shake at their foundations, cracks and sometimes even collapse. Representing these "damages" emphasizes the importance of the transformations they initiate, as well as the possibilities that arise when there is repair or replacement, and maybe it even gives us a view of a new world.

3) Neighborhood, Sergey Kim, Oezbekistan - These pieces of clothing together represent the cultural and ethnic mix of residents of the city. For Sergey Kim, connection is paramount in this work of art, because - according to the artist - despite the globalization and worldwide growth of information provision, the fear of foreigners has increased. You can see some some (repetition) special items of clothing such as Turkish wide pants, a traditional Jewish dress or a Moroccan djellaba.

4) Atlantis, Utskottet, Zweden - With the image of a sinking or flooded city, Utskottet wants to show that this ominous view can become a raw reality. Utskottet chose buildings from different cities - can you recognize the Empire State Building and the A’dam tower? - to form a global cityscape. After all, the threat of total destruction affects us all. The sea levels continue to rise and extreme weather conditions are increasing as a result of our reckless interaction with the earth.

5) Nothing Holding Us, Ben Zamora, VS - Dozens of light tubes together form an explosion, frozen over time. The light does not move, and yet the lines are positioned so that the image appears different from every angle. With his artwork, Ben Zamora wants to make clear that nothing has to stop us, not even the disruptive shock of a life-changing experience. Because the pause button has been pressed for a moment, there is suddenly room for reflection. Therefore, Zamora wants to celebrate the change that can follow a fierce event: his explosion stands for growth or expansion that produces something beautiful.

6) Nachttekening, Krijn de Koning, NL- Krijn de Koning took the iconic forms of the Skinny Bridge, mixed them up and then put them back on the bridge. By accentuating shapes, drawing lines of light and erasing others, De Koning gives the Skinny Bridge a whole new look. The work has two faces: during the day, the image of Amsterdam's most famous bridge remains intact, but when evening falls and the lights go on, the image is completely disrupted.

7) Feel Like The Kardashians, Laila Azra, Singapore
Artist Laila Azra transforms the Amstel into a red carpet. On both sides of the passage in the Amstel , a large number of photographers and fans have gathered on the quay who startle the viewer with the flashes of their cameras and mobile phones. Feel Like the Kardashians let you experience what it is like to be famous when you can be "caught" by the paparazzi at any time of the day and on every corner of the street.

8) Order/ Disorder, Lambert Kamps, NL- The rotating rings of this kinetic artwork are reminiscent of the planetary rings of Jupiter or Saturn, for example, or the rotating electrons around an nucleus. The slow movement of the circles is almost hypnotic: one moment the circles form an ordered pattern, a moment later they intersect in an unordered order. For the artist, they symbolize the dynamic world in which we find ourselves. Although we sometimes lose control and let chaos prevail, this is always followed by moments of peace and clarity.

9) Butterfly Effect, Masamichi Shimada, JP- Seven giant butterflies are perched on the water surface of the canal. Ripples in the water caused by a passing boat make the wings of the butterflies glow blue in the night. With this artwork Butterfly Effects Masamichi Shimada shows in a poetic way that a small action by one person can make a world of difference. A seemingly insignificant movement can have a wonderful result!

10) Icebreaker, Wilhelmusvlug, NL - For Wilhelmusvlug, the tour boat is equivalent to breaking the promise of skating on natural ice. Because when a canal boat has sailed through a frozen canal, the skating party no longer takes place. The only things left are a few loose pieces of ice in the water. The contours of these ice floes are reflected in the artwork. Every time a boat passes through the installation, white and blue cracks burst through the ice on either side of the boat. This way the ice is broken again and again.

11) Hiding in the Wolf's Lair, Republic of Amsterdam Radio& Nomad Tinker House - During the Second World War, the ARTIS zoo had a good reputation with German soldiers who enjoyed walking. Amazingly, the park also served as a safe hiding place for a total of 200 to 300 people in hiding. They hid in the animal cages - even above the lion enclosure and in the wolf house - but also in the cellars and attics of many other buildings such as this mountain house. This artwork depicts this confrontational history, but also the danger that people in general can pose for each other.

12) De Nachtloerrrders, 72and Sunny Creative Collection - The Nachtloerrrders is part of Amsterdam Light Festival’s school project that has been organized annually since 2012 in collaboration with Juf op Straat. The strangely shaped eyes show how animals will adapt in the future to survive in our ever-expanding cities. The twenty pairs of eyes were conceived and programmed by 850 Amsterdam school children (8-12 years) and show this possible evolution with a lot of imagination. New eyes are added every evening - this piece of art keeps changing!

13) Between The Lines, Har Hollands, NL - A mysterious red glow moves restlessly through the driver's cabin of the old abandoned crane along the Entrepot dock. With Between the Lines Hollands clearly shows that the crane can be more than a retired machine Elements and rhythms in urban buildings, which blend into the surroundings unnoticed during the day, are always the starting point for a magical play of light for Hollands. The city comes to life in a new way in "the domain of fantasy", as Hollands describes the night nicely. "

14) End over End, Studio Vertigo, UK - A huge, rainbow-colored slinky runs down from the old porter's house at ARTIS, as if he was put there by a giant hand. As is always the case with the work of Studio Vertigo, this installation turns your world upside down. The work of art is nostalgic at the same time - who has not let slinky down the stairs in the past? - and surreal. The relationships between you and the toys have been reversed, as if you have shrunk and ended up in Alice's Wonderland. "

15) Surface Tension, Tom Biddulp & Barbara Ryan, UK- The artists have transformed a piece of Amsterdam's famous canals into a drowned street: the spooky, glowing silhouettes of entranced cars, lampposts and road signs protrude above the water, like a spooky vision of what could happen if sea levels kept rising . Luckily this is not the case yet in Amsterdam , but let's consider Surface Tension as a small warning ...

16) Remind Euljiro Freedom Eon SLD, SK - Colorful, shimmering Korean illuminated signs scream for attention in the Schippersgracht. They are about forty replicas of traditional signs, neons and light boxes from Euljiro, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the South Korean capital Seoul. The district has a unique ecosystem with around 10,000 specialized shops where more than 50,000 craftsmen work, but is in danger of disappearing due to urban redevelopment. With Remind Euljiro Freedom, EON SLD emphasizes the loss of the cultural and historical value of the neighborhood and its inhabitants. A story that is not unique; In cities around the world, advancing gentrification is a major, disruptive problem.

17) The ice is melting at the pøules, Martin Ersted, DK - New and sometimes beautifully designed graphs that show climate change data have inspired Ersted for his laser light projection. Lines represent the rise in the average global temperature over the past 169 years: blue is a relatively cool year, red a warm one. The stripes are interspersed with a series of interwoven circles, which show the rise in global temperature and CO2 concentration. The changing height of the stripes and circles corresponds to data about the sea level rise. Ersted's combination of scientific facts and intense laser light produces a performance that is confronting and poetic at the same time.

18) All the light you see, Alicia Eggert, VS - Light always takes a moment to travel from one point to another - to be precise, 300,000 km per second. The information that the light brings to us, for example how long ago a distant star came into existence, is therefore, actually always old. Because part of Eggers' text sometimes goes out, she makes the message even more powerful: "All You See is Past" - everything you see is already behind us. Quite confusing at a time when we are used to always having the latest information at our disposal.

19) Nobody, Gabriel Lester, NL- With two robot arms - one playing a puppet, the other burden - Lester makes a fascinating shadow play on the bow of the NEMO Science Museum. The idea of man as a willless puppet, played by something bigger and stronger than himself, has existed with artists, philosophers and writers for centuries. But the fact that no god / goddess pulls the strings in Nobody, and that robots let the doll (or is it human?) Come to life, says a lot about the technological age in which we now live. Who is actually in charge?

20) Ad.Empty Domination, Jasmijn Pielkenrood, Wies Brand & Maria Watjer - Two enlarged shelters, light boxes that are used for outdoor advertising, are prominently on the scaffolding. The advertisements are missing; instead, they stand out for their emptiness and the harsh white light they emit. If you look closely you can see that the image subtly changes. The artwork, an empty shell in fact, is a reaction and commentary on the commercials that dominate the street scene and therefore often our thoughts.