Accessibility means designing art and culture in a way that allows as many people as possible to take part – regardless of age, prior experience, language, technical access, or physical ability.
We think inclusively – from the very beginning.

That can mean:

– offering subtitles or live surtitles,
– providing multilingual content,
– making devices available to borrow (e.g. tablets or headphones),
– explaining content in plain language,
– adding image descriptions to visual material,
– designing formats that are understandable across age groups,
– or simply: having someone there to explain, support, and answer questions.

For us, accessibility isn’t an extra – it’s part of the design. And yes, we’re constantly learning.

If there’s anything you need to better experience our work,
please get in touch: info@hellalux.de.
We’ll do our best to find a solution – and we’re always open to learning.

Audio Augmented Reality (AAR) is like the counterpart to Virtual Reality. While Virtual Reality (VR) immerses you completely in an artificial environment (usually via a VR headset), AAR keeps you in the real world—only the sound is augmented. Through headphones, you hear voices, music, or sound effects in addition to the real-world sounds around you, precisely matched to your location or movement. So you still see the real environment—but you hear more than what’s actually there. The result is an invisible soundscape that feels like an audible layer over reality.

Audio-based formats rely on listening as the central mode of perception, rather than images, text, or visual stimuli. In art, theatre, or media production, this means that the impact is created through the ear, not the eye. Audio-based often also means: intimate, mobile, and close—because sound sits directly on the head, in the head, and in the space.

In the Projects section, you can filter our work specifically by audio-based formats. We especially recommend an extraordinary performance project for children that takes place entirely without performers on stage—carried solely by sound and voice. In this piece, the audience becomes part of the experience and takes on the leading role in the space.

An audiowalk is a sound-based walk that guides you through a city, a building, or a landscape—using only voices, music, and sound in your ears. Instead of watching a stage, your surroundings become the scenery. The audio track can narrate, recall, instruct, or even unsettle—suddenly making ordinary places feel extraordinary. Audiowalks combine technology, theatre, and space into an immersive experience, often designed for individuals or small groups. Typically, headphones and a smartphone are used, sometimes supported by GPS or location-based apps.

In artistic practice, audiowalks are used to offer new perspectives on familiar places or to make historical, social, or personal stories audible. The audience becomes not just a listener, but an active participant in public space. What’s especially fascinating: reality and fiction merge—often right in the middle of the street. The place itself becomes part of the narrative and transforms how it is experienced. Audiowalks are also ideal for individual, low-contact formats. Whether poetic, historical, political, or experimental—an audiowalk is, in a way, a theatre on the move.

A unique time capsule from the very beginning:

Binaural simply means: hearing with both ears. In binaural recordings, sound is captured using two microphones in a way that allows direction, distance, and spatial acoustics to be perceived realistically, especially when listening with headphones. Often, special 3D recording heads are used, designed to mimic a human head – including artificial ears. This creates a spatial listening experience where, for example, you can feel someone whispering from behind your right shoulder or walking past you – as if you were right in the middle of the scene.

As a co-founder of HELLA LUX, Milena Wichert brings her expertise as a coach directly into artistic processes and project structures. Especially in the cultural and creative sector, it takes more than ideas – it requires clarity, leadership skills, and collaboration at eye level. Coaching supports this by helping to define roles, make more conscious decisions, and shape creative spaces that are safe and sustainable. It means: listening, sorting, strengthening. Because good leadership in the arts doesn’t have to be loud – but it must be clear, committed, and human.

At HELLA LUX, this is a core value. Creative processes are special – and often challenging. That’s precisely why they must not become a breeding ground for toxic work environments.

Through her platform Mind & Pepper, Milena offers a full portfolio of coaching and mediation – including workshops, events, and seminars specifically designed for professionals in the cultural and creative industries. HELLA LUX regularly collaborates on these formats – promoting a practice where art and good work grow together.

HELLA says it all the time – “with our collaborators” – but what exactly does that mean?

Collaborator is a slightly more nuanced word for partner, companion, co-creator – sometimes even co-conspirator. It refers to people we think, create, and produce with on equal footing. Unlike “employees” or “service providers,” collaboration always implies shared intention – working with one another, not for one another.

Our collaborators come from a wide range of fields: theatre, technology, design, music, film, science, dance, education, and more. They bring different perspectives, questions, and ways of thinking – and together, they make HELLA LUX what it is.

Comics are much more than picture stories – they are an independent artistic medium with great narrative depth. Lenja Busch, co-founder of HELLA LUX, combines her theater practice with research in the fields of comics and storytelling. Her artistic and academic perspectives flow directly into HELLA LUX's work – for example in HEAVY BOOTS, a comic exploring themes of grief, or as a live illustrator on stage in the performance BOOTS.

More on her comic research can be found in Lenja’s publication, available in the downloads section.

We love puzzles, spaces, and immersive experiences – which is why we’d absolutely love to develop our own escape room someday! Ideally with atmosphere, storytelling, and a touch of HELLA LUX light magic.

Planning a project, thinking about a collaboration, or just happen to have a mysterious basement?
Get in touch: info@hellalux.de

We’ll bring the creative chaos – you lock the door.

High up in the tower of the Youth Culture Church Sankt Peter in Frankfurt – directly above our small office, our Frankfurt base – lives a falcon.

We dream of installing a live camera in the tower to get to know our feathered neighbor better – and to let you share in the view.

Donations for the falcon livestream are welcome via PayPal: paypal.me/hellaluxstudio 🦅📹

Got feedback, an idea, or a suggestion? We’d love to hear from you! Whether it’s about our productions, our language, inclusive and discrimination-sensitive design, or even a sneaky typo – just drop us a line at: info@hellalux.de

And if you know a place that’s in need of a HELLA LUX update – a park, a theater, a museum, or even an entire city – let us know!

After years of digital chaos across all platforms – Drive, Dropbox, hard drives, USB sticks with cryptic file names like “final_final_New_2reallyLastVersion” – we did it. For the past two years, we’ve had a folder structure that withstands any level of project madness.

Whether it’s a museum guide, a theatre production, or a large-scale event – everything has its place, everything is findable, and nothing is called “final_chaos_folder” anymore. Yes, we even have a dedicated folder where all funders and collaborators are neatly organized in subfolders, complete with their logos.

It took work. It was annoying.
But: totally worth it. And if anyone wants to know how we did it – we’re happy to offer a little workshop.
Also, to be perfectly honest:
We wouldn’t mind a bit of recognition for it.

HELLA LUX is a GbR – short for 'Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts', or civil law partnership.

For us, being a GbR means shared responsibility – legally and artistically. We make decisions collectively, grounded in mutual trust, open communication, and the desire to make things happen together.

And yes – that also means we handle bookkeeping, contracts, and tax deadlines.
Not just art...

Where am I? In our audiowalks, we use GPS tracking to trigger sounds, voices, or music precisely when you reach a specific location. The technology detects the listener’s position via smartphone and automatically plays the corresponding audio scene – accurate to your location in space.

This makes the path itself part of the dramaturgy: a step forward changes the perspective, a glance back activates the next voice.
For us, GPS is more than just a tool – it’s a way to interweave space, movement, and narrative.

🔒 What about privacy? We use GPS locally on the device only – no data is stored or shared.

14 October 2016

For HELLA LUX, the group experiment is an artistic approach. We see theatre and performance as a collective process– not simply the presentation of a finished work, but the creation of a space where thinking, playing, negotiating, and experiencing happen together.

A group experiment means, for us:

• Audience members are more than spectators – they become part of the action.

• Artistic authorship is shared – through roles, decisions, and perspectives.

• Every performance can unfold differently – because it lives through the interaction of everyone in the room.

A key example of this is our production "Wenn nicht jetzt, dann gestern" – a theatrical experiment about time, memory, and collective decision-making. Content and dynamics emerge through the exchange with the audience, turning each performance into a social experiment.

The piece "Lügen & Beine" follows the same spirit: questioning what truth is, who gets to speak, and how we choose to believe stories in the first place.

At HELLA LUX, we believe: Art becomes stronger when it enables genuine exchange. This sometimes means relying less on safeguards and being willing to take a risk. A space for dialogue at eye level, where differences are embraced and mutual learning happens through discourse.

At HELLA LUX, working between analog and digital was part of our everyday practice long before the pandemic – but the Covid period significantly accelerated these processes. It acted as a catalyst for strategies we had already begun exploring: weaving together space, technology, the body, and digital layers.

For us, hybridity is not a trend but a mindset. We consciously design artistic processes that move between stage and screen, between live moments and media extensions. We challenge the outdated idea that art must be more “real” or “intimate” in analog form – and show that digital tools can also create connection, immediacy, and presence.

Whether it’s an audiowalk, livestream, light installation, or interactive tool – this play with hybridity shapes both our aesthetics and the way we collaborate.

In the Projects section, you can filter our work specifically by hybrid formats.

Some doors open slowly – others lead straight to the secret ice cream freezer. One of our long-standing collaborators let us in, and ever since, we've had unlimited access to frozen happiness. At HELLA LUX, we clearly call that a career upgrade. (Nothing beats a cool collab!)

The term "immersive" comes from the Latin word immergere, meaning "to immerse" or "to submerge." In today’s usage – especially in art, media, and technology – it describes an experience in which people are so deeply involved or surrounded that they feel like they are part of the situation or environment.

For HELLA LUX, immersive means creating a space that is not only seen, but felt, heard, moved through, and co-shaped. Our work creates experiences that don’t stop at the edge of the stage. Whether through light, sound, movement, interaction, or narrative – we create situations where the audience doesn't just observe, but actively steps into the experience.

At HELLA LUX, we believe that aesthetic experiences have no age limit. Our work isn’t made for just one type of audience – it aims to create spaces where people of different generations can meet, with openness, curiosity, and mutual respect.

Whether it’s a children’s piece, an audiowalk, a media guide, or a festival installation – we develop projects that can’t be neatly sorted by age group, but rather by shared experiences, questions, and perspectives.

Because art is at its strongest when it brings people together.

HELLA LUX believes that artistic questions gain depth when they are approached through global perspectives. Transnational exchange is not an add-on for us, but part of the foundation of serious cultural work. We only learn when we learn from one another and look beyond our own horizons. Or put differently: exchange is everything. This is reflected in our works created in collaboration with young creatives from more than 15 countries – including Together Apart, OUTandDOORS and ALL THE TIME.

What do our international accomplices have to say about this? Here is a quote they left us in the context of ALL THE TIME:

"A diverse group of dreamers from across the globe were brought together on a virtual cloud and given a safe space to exchange their thoughts, feelings, cultures and ideas. These subconscious thoughts flowed like waters from different time zones and merged into a river, which flowed into the project, and splashed in Frankfurt."

A term that tends to get thrown around in academic circles – but here’s the short version: A Janus head is a head with two faces, symbolizing ambiguity, transitions, and simultaneity. The term comes from the Roman god Janus, god of beginnings and endings, of doors and gateways. Janus was depicted with two faces: one looking forward, the other back – seeing both past and future at once.

At HELLA LUX, we sometimes feel the same: caught between reflection and vision, analysis and intuition, art and technology. And the funny part? HELLA actually has three heads – because there are three of us. So maybe we’re more of a Trinus head? (Not mythologically accurate, but definitely very HELLA.)

Or simply put: We look to the past, the present, and the future – all at once.

We find them fascinating – for their spaces, their objects, their stories.
But we also think: Audioguides are long overdue for an upgrade!

HELLA LUX has already had the chance to develop several interactive media tools and audio experiences for museums – and we're excited for more. For us, knowledge transfer isn’t just about passing on information. It’s about engaging the senses, making spaces tangible, and creating experiences.

Whether through binaural audio guides, walk-in story environments, or performative media formats – we believe museums can do more when we hear, feel, and move through them.
Not just look at them.

Where does the name HELLA LUX actually come from? Good question – and there are exactly three different answers.

Each of the three founders tells their own version of the naming story – and the fascinating part is: none of the stories really overlap. It’s precisely these contradictions, half-truths, and anecdotes that give the name its own life – growing a little more with every new project.

Maybe that’s why HELLA LUX is no longer just a name...
but a small myth with a shifting narrative script.

Well – it’s also just a name.
A brand.
A label.

We’re not afraid to do things over and over. Because rehearsals need repetition.
Because tech sometimes acts up. And because it’s often on the seventh try that everything finally clicks.

Ah yes, the press. They often don’t come – or only after a long battle of endless emails, callbacks, follow-ups, reminders, more follow-ups… and then still: nothing.

So here’s what we’ve come up with:
If you’re reading this and you work in the press – just write to us.
Send a quick proof (press ID, link, or whatever you’ve got), and we’ll invite you to dinner.

Seriously. No press ticket, no complicated accreditation, no VIP wristband.
Just dinner. With us.

Sound fair? We think so too. Drop us a line at info@hellalux.de – we’d love to hear from you.

* There is one catch: you actually have to write an article.

We’ve been here. And there. And over there too.
Residencies, for us, are not breaks – they’re creative states of exception: time to explore, experiment, think, build, discard, and start over.
We love embedding our work in new contexts, and being challenged by new places, teams, and realities.

But: Lenja would really like to go to Japan.
So dear Goethe Institutes, cultural foundations, and exchange programs –
please invite us.
We’ll bring energy, ideas, and plenty of tech.
And we’ll go ahead and say: ありがとうございます.

For HELLA LUX, a Safe(r) Space means a space – whether analog or digital – where people can work, rehearse, create, and speak with respect, care, and as free from discrimination as possible.

We intentionally write Safe(r) with parentheses, because we know: absolute safety doesn’t exist. But we can build structures that support mindful interaction, make power dynamics visible, and encourage shared responsibility.

This applies to our rehearsal spaces just as much as to digital settings. And because the digital space often feels invisible, fast, and unprotected, we developed a tool specifically for that: our card set New Space – filled with practical prompts, games, and guidelines for making digital spaces more conscious, transparent, and safer.

To us, a Safe(r) Space doesn’t mean being perfect –
it means being accountable.

The stage is not a fixed or clearly defined place – it is a space of possibility. It can be made of wood, asphalt, light, or sound. Sometimes it stands in a theater, sometimes in a park, sometimes right in the middle of the audience. For us, the stage is wherever something begins to speak, shine, or resonate – with people or without.

The stage is the place where reality and imagination meet. And sometimes, it’s simply an open space and an idea.

Somewhere near Darmstadt – a mysterious place filled with gear, cables, cases, stage parts, lighting equipment, strange objects, and half-finished ideas.

A large part of our team has never actually been there. Some say the storage space is like a mix between a workshop, a tool shed, and a time capsule. Others say: better not go in alone.

And somewhere, deep in a box, an unicorn is sleeping (see Unicorn entry).

We once hung one in a tree during a project.

HELLA loves tech. And Patrick Kerner loves theme parks. So it’s no surprise that sparks flew at some point. Patrick has been the technical mastermind at HELLA LUX from day one – with a passion for light, video, circuits, pyrotechnics, and everything that flashes, bangs, and moves.

He brings deep knowledge from the world of roller coasters and themed attractions into our productions – even if they don’t always end up looking like Disneyland (which makes HELLA’s Lenja a little sad every time).

With Patrick on board, HELLA is already halfway into the theme park world – and vice versa.
So why not create an audiowalk for waiting lines, or an audio escape game in the fairy tale forest?

Our unicorn is part of every show – loyally standing by the tech team’s side. It’s been our lucky charm since 2017! When it’s not on tour, it lives in our storage space. (More on that under Storage.)

A videowalk is a multimedia format that combines video, sound, and movement through space. As you walk through a real environment – such as a city, a neighborhood, or a building – a video plays on your smartphone or tablet, accompanying your journey. At the same time, you listen to an audio track through headphones, featuring voices, music, or ambient sounds.

A videowalk can guide you, challenge you, surprise you, or offer entirely new perspectives on familiar places. Some formats show you your surroundings from a different angle; others create a distinct cinematic layer that overlaps with – or even contradicts – the real world. The result is a walkable narrative, an experience somewhere between cinema, theater, and urban exploration.

For example, we created the videowalk ALL THE TIME in Frankfurt, and developed WALK WITH ME in Wiesbaden together with local students.

Right at the top of our wish list: a water fountain on stage – ideally combined with sound, light, and perfect timing.

We would absolutely love to create a fully choreographed water-light-sound show – with precise jets, glowing droplets, and deep, rumbling bass.
And Patrick from our team? He’s been dreaming for years of a fountain that also shoots fire from the top.
Milena thinks that might be a bit much.

So: if you have a spare water fountain, are planning the right kind of project, or simply think “that sounds wild – let’s do it” –
write to us! info@hellalux.de

The "job" of a Y-adapter in the audio world is to split or duplicate signals. One input – two outputs. Or the other way around. It looks like a Y, does exactly what the letter promises, and is often that one little piece you're desperately searching for under the stage in the dark.