Abstract
On the wall in our lab is a large photocollage of the disturbed and dissociated circadian rest-activity cycle of a patient with dementia reflected in the Rosetta Stone: language and meaning interwoven with loss thereof. This work by Andreas Horlitz, a Munich-based artist who died unexpectedly at the age of 61, is one of his many works based on circadian biology.
He was fascinated by actigraphy, and over the years we supplied him with data that he transformed into various installations, many as light boxes (well aware of the symbolism/medical use of light as therapy). One impressive series on the executive floor of a life insurance firm consists of 28 engraved cabinets that serve as light fittings along the hallways, with actimetry from individuals covering the human life span from birth to old age. He often used silver mirrored glass etching so that the observer’s reflection interacted with the lit-up engraved rest-activity cycle to induce a kind of thoughtful irritation: subjective-objective confusion. A recent piece glitters in a golden reflection of the daily light exposure measurements.
His most monumental work presents 7 years of actimetry as a high-gloss reflecting 24-m stainless-steel column, originally installed as a floating light sculpture in a multistorey atrium (Abbott, 2001). The rest phases are punched out and illuminated from within. Other light installations are near-direct reproductions of actimetry, yet are striking in their aesthetic appeal. He continued to transform and incorporate 24-hour rhythmic patterns into photocollages, combined with eye, sun, eclipse, etc., and, after a night in the sleep lab, he created a 7-panel-long dense glass interpretation of his own EEG.
The most impressive pieces are within an architectural context: glass structures with the relevant symbolic elements integrated into the building. He also used images from many other scientific domains, the most recent example being a human genome microarray incorporated into a multilayered, mysterious window within a church arch. This memorial for the dead indeed now becomes his own memorial.
Andreas was a restless spirit who recognized science as a source of important and beautiful symbols, a stringent perfectionist in the works he created, a demanding collaborator who sought to understand the concepts behind the data, and a thoughtful and attentive friend.