Hello Wood works on the Island

On the 20th anniversary Island, the organizers more consciously shaped the festival's spaces and visual world than ever before.
Partner in this is Hello Wood, which debuted at the festival in 2011 and immediately became very popular with visitors thanks to its monumental wood installations. Hello Wood is an all-arts workshop where students in architecture, design, film, photography, typography, animation, landscape architecture and new media work with successful professionals in their profession to get the most out of themselves. This is the community where a career starter can put the crown on his portfolio, from where his creations migrate not to the drawer but to prestigious exhibitions and the media. Prior to the Island, Hello Wood’s 2012 creative camp ended, where the 200-person team worked for a week to turn their creativity to the benefit of small communities in Heves, Nógrád and Borsod. Some of the works made in the camp will be presented on the Island. Meanwhile, for about 5 weeks, 80 Hello Wood volunteers also feverishly built on Shipyard Island, creating mind-blowing installations specifically for the festival.

The Colosseum is a central focal point of the Island that is open from all sides, thus attracting visitors from all directions. The construction was designed by architect Péter Pozsár in the spirit of sustainability from more than 700 pallets and 4 m3 of wood for the duration of the festival. Thanks to the fastening technology, the pallets will return to their original function after the Island. The 5 meter high space has an outside diameter of 20 meters and an inside diameter of 18 meters. It is estimated that the installation weighs nearly 20 tons.

The unusual spectacle is complemented by the huge animal sculptures of the sculptor Miklós Gábor Szőke. As we have become accustomed to from the rock star of sculpture, this space has also become the scene of his own private mythology built around his own Dobermann named Dante. The building is guarded on both sides by Dante's guards, and the entrance is already a special experience: trusting Dante, we let ourselves be devoured and, after swallowing us, we are inside the Colosseum. Another guardian of the venue is the Szakácsi Tiger, which the artist, together with his team at the Hello Wood creative camp, made for the Szakácsi settlement, which lives in deep poverty. The Tiger will be temporarily unveiled on the Island to bring its fame to the beautiful little village. 183 enthusiastic settlements located between Szakács hills. The artist’s goal was to design a sculpture that would protect the community and bring people together.

The Demo Node and the Wire Association made a special photomechanical experience in the Colosseum. Starting from the creators Moholy, Paik, Malina and Kepes, I start to deal with the world of analogable visuals. For the Colosseum project, mini, kinetic installations were designed for slide projectors and overhead projectors.

The visual culture of the Island is enriched by the Egg made of wooden slats based on the designs of András Huszár and Balázs Mechle, in which visitors to the OTP Bank World Music Party Main Stage can meditate freely. The egg is 6 meters high and 5 meters in diameter and can accommodate about 15-20 people. The most exciting part of building the egg was that thin, half-centimeter and one-centimeter pre-soaked slats were applied to a template, which dried up to take the shape of a template. The egg was inspired by the 20th birthday of the Island, or in the words of the designer: “What came first? Hen? Egg? Island?"

The Tornado was made according to the plans of Péter Pozsár at the Sziget all-arts venue, in the KultúrZona. The installation was built of 4 m3 of wood, about 8 meters high and 9 meters in diameter. The 7 cantilever arms have about 40 nozzles that cool festivals warmed up by heat and partying with water vapor.

The Lounge, built by architects András Huszár, Balázs Mechle and Nándor Nagy, was built near the Tornado. The creators of the satin ribbon installation, members of the Prehuman Syndicate group, Gergely Mindák and Kata N. Iván, aim to smuggle demanding art into the spaces of everyday life. In the wooded grove, as a stylized tannel, colored bundles of ribbons coming from different directions flow between the foliage, simultaneously moving, flowing, breathing patterns, with close-to-nature, clean forms. The ribbons symbolize the path of different people and cultures running in parallel, forming an individual, yet common story, pointing in one direction, finding each other, flowing together, vibrating as one medium. The Lounge is a comfortable, pleasant place to stay for lovers of wine, splatter and brandy.

The Floating House installation made in the Hello Wood creative camp will be transferred from the Lázbérc reservoir to the Island. The original function of the work, built by the leaders of Nándor Nagy, Bulcsú Szabó and András Huszár and their teams, is to renew the tradition of bathhouses, but it also provides a special space experience for visitors on land. The box on the outside and the organically changing wood on the inside are 8 meters x 4 meters x 3 meters.

Hintapark is the first ART playground and amusement park in the country, where the joint works of sculptor Miklós Gábor Szőke and architect András Huszár reinterpret the world of classic swings and rocking horses. At this location you can see the officially largest Hintalova of the country, which can be rocked by human power, which according to the registered record, 2696 people can swing in one day.

The Swing, based on the plans of András Huszár, can swing up to 70 people at a time from the age of 0-90. The swing can be set in motion by two people and is designed to fly completely high, no matter how high.

Also based on the plans of typist Ádám Katyi and new media group leaders Donát Ertsey and Gábor Karcis, who moved to Sziget, the Hypnotype spiral anamorphosis was made in the Hello Wood creative camp, which means unrecognizably distorted images that can only be seen from a special point of view. The WOOD letters broken down into its elements become readable from the front. The installation will be presented on the Island as part of a special mapping projection show at the new media workshop.

Pictures of the works here are visible.

Source: Press release