EKKO was an auditive and visual light work by the artist group Vertigo, presented by Copenhagen Contemporary and Copenhagen Light Festival in collaboration with the Refshaleøen Island’s Property Association.

The site-specific installation unfolded in four light columns from the former shipyard Burmeister & Wain (B&W) on the square in front of the Refshaleøen Island Welding Hall, now home to the international art centre Copenhagen Contemporary.

The four light columns measure 30m in height and each marks a corner of the slipway where the giant industrial ships were built. In its heyday, B&W was Denmark’s largest workplace, producing ships round the clock and the constantly illuminated island was visible all over the city.

Vertigo brought renewed focus to the Refshaleøen Island on the Copenhagen horizon by reinterpreting the light that formerly characterised this area – visually echoing the past. EKKO revived the island’s original four light columns and illuminated the present-day cultural and bustling life now unfolding in the old shipyard area.

Each light column also had a sound source coupled to the work’s lighting. A total of 27.000 luminous LED points flashed spectacularly in sync with the auditive spectrum spanning from brief notes to soft flowing sound images in a pulsating loop. The visual and auditive experience found its inspiration in the shipyard welding flame – from the blue centre to the outer orange glow. Thus, the experience of the work was twofold: one side could only be experienced at close hand while the other was visible from Copenhagen’s city roofs as far away as Bispebjerg.

EKKO was an outdoor work and could be experienced free of charge every day during the period 1 February – 24 February 2019 between the hours 18 and 24.

EKKO was presented by Copenhagen Contemporary in collaboration with Refshaleøens Ejendomsselskab.

Vertigo is an artist collective consisting of Frederik Hilmer Svanholm, Vibeke Bertelsen, and Mikkel Meyer and is acclaimed at home and abroad for the way of applying new technology to create immersive installations using light and sound. Vertigo earned much media coverage with their installation The Wave shown at Ofelia Plads in Copenhagen and also in London, Liverpool and Athens.