Mischa Kuball's
luminous dialogs

Mischa Kuball is a German light artist and professor at the KHM Cologne. He combines social themes with urban spaces in interactive installations and was awarded the German Light Art Prize in 2016.

»Have you ever asked yourself whether what you see is really reality? Or whether it is just a reflection of your own perceptions and expectations?«

»How often do we take things for granted without really questioning them? What if we could see the world through a new light, literally and metaphorically?«

Mischa Kuball, born in Düsseldorf in 1959, is a German artist who is best known for his work in the field of light art. His works combine social and political themes with urban spaces, using light as a medium of reflection and transformation. Kuball creates installations that are often interactive and site-specific in order to promote awareness of cultural and social structures.

He is a professor at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and has received numerous awards, including the German Light Art Prize in 2016. Projects such as "public preposition" and "Plato's Mirror" demonstrate his engagement with philosophy and the public sphere.

Mischa Kuball "res-o-nant"

2017, Jewish Museum, Berlin, Photo: Jule Roehr, © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2025

Mischa Kuball "Platon's Mirror"

2011, Exhibition view Artspace Sydney, Photo: Silversalt Photography, Sydney, © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2025

"res-o-nant" (2017): A major installation at the Jewish Museum Berlin, in which Kuball used pulsating light and sound to interact with the museum's architecture. The immersive experience addressed resonance and reflection.

"Plato's Mirror" (since the 1990s): This series of works integrates light projections into public spaces and refers to Plato's Allegory of the Cave. It reflects on the nature of reality and perception and uses light as a metaphor for knowledge and cognition.

Mischa Kuball "New Pott"

2010, Lehmbruck Museum Duisburg, Photo: Achim Kukulies, Düsseldorf, © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2025

"New Pott" (2010): Mischa Kuball's project "New Pott" is a participatory work of art that deals with migration, identity and cultural diversity in the Ruhr region. As part of the project, Kuball visited and interviewed 100 people and families with a migration background from various communities in the Ruhr region over a period of 18 months. The project is both an artistic reflection on migration and integration as well as a new "cartography" of the region that makes the different realities of life and stories visible. It was part of the Capital of Culture Ruhr.2010 and was exhibited at various locations, such as the art collection of the Ruhr University Bochum.

The cube that makes
Monheim shine

Mischa Kuball "Monheim_cube"

Monheim, Opladener Straße, 2022, Photo: Studio Kukulies, Düsseldorf, © VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, 2025

Together with Mischa Kuball, we realized the project "Square/Cube", also known as the "Monheim Cube". It is an interactive light and sound installation in Monheim am Rhein, Germany. The artwork consists of a walk-in, large cube made of light rods, which is integrated into the floor in combination with a square light installation. The cube reacts dynamically to the presence of passers-by: The closer people come, the more intense the light intensity and the volume of the built-in sound compositions become.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mischa Kuball for the uncomplicated collaboration and look forward to future projects!