Autor: Sanjin Ćorović

The project (interactive installation) explores the fate of the Belgrade thermal power plant Power and Light by attempting to preserve its form, spirit and significance through digital art and providing visitors with the opportunity to connect with its past, present, and possible future.

In addition to archival materials that show the past, photo and video documentation that the artist independently collected on location for showing the present, parts of MA Thesis of the Serbian architect and designer Andrej Mišić, who tried to breathe new life into this building, are also used. His idea was to move the Nikola Tesla museum to this location, enriched with additional accompanying contents.

Using specific software tools, sensors, cameras and projectors, the artist processes LiDAR scans, photos, videos and 3D models of the power plant to create a unique collage, a digital vision of the space. The installation allows visitors to interact with visual representations - by moving and transforming the image, they become active participants in the process of research and reinterpretation of industrial heritage.

When there are no visitors in front of the installation, the work is displayed as a set of partially articulated, dynamic particles that are reborn and die at short intervals, derived from representations hidden in the layer below. Visitors move the particles with their movements, revealing other visual elements that alternate and allow them to peek into all three time periods. Through light contours, dynamic visualizations and effects that reflect decay and regeneration, the work attempts to revive the spirit of this historic site.

Digital interpretation of the power plant is not a fixed work, but a living, interactive structure that changes its form and meaning depending on how viewers perceive and interact with it. Each visitor brings their own perspective, becoming part of the creative process and completing the work in a unique way. Their experience and reactions add a new layer of interpretation to the whole process. This attitude towards the past and its perception touches on the philosophy of Henri Bergson, especially his work “Matter and Memory”. Bergson emphasizes that memory is not a passive repository of past events, but an active process that shapes our perception of the present. The installation not only represents the archive of the power plant through digital displays but also allows visitors to reconstruct its past and see possible futures through their movements and interaction. In this way, they leave the role of a traditional passive observer and become performers of the artwork.

The work also explores the connection between the material world and memory, inviting visitors to become active participants in the creation of meaning of this industrial monument.

Credits: Andrej Mišić, architect and designer, Ana Krstajić, music composer.

Sanjin Ćorović is a visual artist and producer with many years of experience working on large projects of various types, both commercial and cultural. He completed his undergraduate studies in 2010 at the Faculty of Informatics and Computer Science – Department of Computer Graphics and Design (Singidunum University). He is currently in the final phase of the digital arts master’s program at the Faculty of Media and Communications (Singidunum University), where he deals with interactive installations, new media, VR, etc. Over several years, he worked on numerous international productions in the region and throughout the world (Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, USA) where he gained extensive experience in the field of audio-video technologies, lighting design and programming, as well as their integration with various software. He is a guest lecturer at the international SAE Institute, where he teaches the use of video technologies and lighting in “live” production. As part of the author’s team, he won the audience award at the 66th Sterija Theater, as well as at the BITEF festival for the play “As if the end is not quite near”, based entirely on new technologies.