Light Art Installallation „Gold vs Liebe” in San José, Costa Rica

The light art installation „Gold oder Liebe“ (Gold or Love) – created by mbeam on occasion of the Faust Festival in Munich in 2018 – on tour to the capital of Costa Rica, San José.

Google is Dr. Faustus’ search for comprehensive knowledge in digital form.  Knowledge is power. Google is Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the creators of google. They have accumulated tremendous wealth and power and consequently great influence in the worlds fate. But are they really loved for their accomplishments? Are they happy or do they fear the ghosts that they have called?

These questions formed the background for the staging of Sergey Brin in Munich in 2018 on the occasion of the Year of Faust. Faust´s question „Gold or Love?“ translated into the contemporary. People all over the world are occupied by this question. That´s why mbeam will stage this light-art installation in many locations of the world.

We started in Costa Rica, the country that – according to many surveys – has the world’s happiest population. As concrete location for the light installation we chose the sculptures that form the „MONUMENTO A LOS PRESENTES” of the Costa Rican sculptor Fernando Calvo. This monument comprises of 9 bronze figures that embody the typical inhabitants oft he Valle Central in Costa Rica, farmers who – as a consequence of technical progress and modernization – are in danger to disappear. What a contrast to Sergey Brin who is the embodiment of this progress on top of his wealth and power.

Also, the location oft this monument, just in front of Costa Rican´s central bank, which also is a beacon of money and power, seemed ideal for our message.

* Sergey is of course travelling climate-neutrally