Ben Klock: Photon
The campaign for world famous Berlin Techno DJ’s immersive light and sound shows, touring the world
Project:
Photon 2019
Client:
Klockworks
Services:
Concept Development, Design, Creative Direction, Content Creation
Ben Klock is an ever-present symbol of Berlin’s modern Techno movement. Resident DJ at iconic Berlin club Berghain and a regular on the international circuit. He is also a producer and owner of record label Klockworks, whilst his skills as a remixer have seen him rework tracks by Depeche Mode and many others.
His Photon shows have been touring for several years, building a devoted following around the world.
Photon is about the experience of light, architecture and music. This experience is almost like a light installation but with the vibe of a techno party - Ben Klock
DJ, Artist, Producer and label owner. Ben Klock is an ever present symbol of Berlin's modern techno movement.
Photon shows immerse the audience in sound and light
The Brief:
By way of a brief, Ben described the concept of his Photon shows…
"Taking influence from the notion of a photon, the fundamental particle of visible light. The idea involves geometric symmetry and simplicity of light design". The Photon nights also immerse the audience in the light shows that “take the focus a little bit away from the stage and bring it back to the room, where the dancers are. I would like people to have a feeling that they experienced something real and deep, not just an audio-visual show"
Solution:
Staying true to the Photon concept, we wanted to create something striking and minimal, which conveyed the fundamental meaning of the shows...
The idea was to capture people’s attention by playing with a human behaviour which is very much ‘hard wired’ into us. We instinctively look for meaning in shapes and seek to categorise what we are seeing. When an image is not easily categorised, this instinctive process is interrupted, causing us to stop and dwell, as we try and make sense of what we are seeing.
This explains the hypnotic appeal for children and adults alike in the game of staring up at clouds and looking for shapes and objects or why the Rorschach inkblot test has been used by phycologists for decades to provide an insight into our states of mind.
We instinctively seek to categorise what we are seeing. When an image is not easily categorised, we are drawn in to dwell on it
Rorschach inkblot test - What do you see?
Which way is the water flowing?
Solution:
We wanted the images for the tour to produce a double take, making people pause to question what they were seeing – Is it light, smoke, ink in water, an image of the cosmos, an explosion?
This creative solution was also relevant to being at a Photon show (And listening to music in general), where meaning is subjective and one person’s experience might be very different to another’s.
On the shoot, we committed to using no elaborate effects and only working with elements present in the real live shows. Everything was created in-camera, playing with lens aberrations, exposure and shutter speeds. We worked with American visual artist Romeo Allaeff who captured the images.
In post-production we did very little to manipulate the imagery.
And staying true to Ben's roots, the shoot took place at Berlin’s, Berghain club where Ben has been a resident DJ for years.
Activity:
The assets were rolled out across Ben Klock’s social channels to tease the announcement of the tour
And adapted for social channels to promote shows in specific cities. We also provided a toolkit for territories to create local adaptations across the world.
Knowledge and insight
Ben Klock. Techno and the changing face of one of the world's most interesting cities
Explore the world of Ben Klock and Berghain. Iconic emblems of Berlin, a city still showing the scars of its past but undergoing rapid change and, depending on who you speak to, welcome or unwelcome gentrification. The need for growth in one of Germany's poorest cities, combined with the desire to maintain its underground scene and individuality, creates a tension between old and new in one of Europe’s most exciting urban centres.
(Special thanks to StereoKlang.se for Ben Klock interview content used in the case study)
