The unforgettable installations by Encor Studio have long been known on the world’s greatest stages – whether at Art Basel, as a central highlight of a show at Paris Fashion Week, or as a breathtaking light projection on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Now their art finds a completely new and extraordinary stage: on board SWISS. In the new SWISS Safety Video, the work "Adsum" appears, observed by the protagonist at the Comédie de Genève, where the evacuation instructions are illustrated in a striking and lasting way.

Art in film – glass, electricity, and a touch of magic
While "Adsum" serves in the SWISS Safety Video as an extraordinary and futuristic canvas for unmistakable evacuation instructions, it is in fact a key work of the audiovisual philosophy of the four Encor founders Mirko Eremita, Valerio Spoletini, David Houncheringer and Manuel Oberholzer.

 

The four artists of Encor shift – or rather transcend – the boundaries of traditional art. With a blend of acoustics, light, technology, and a variety of materials, they create multidimensional layers that repeatedly captivate the viewer. One wants to look again, and again, while the mind tries to grasp what the eye is seeing. In just a few seconds, entire worlds open up – moments that dissolve space and time and make everything around you fade away. What was that just now? What does it mean? Where am I, even? Encore!

Silent rebellion through innovation
Since 2015, the artist quartet from Neuchâtel, west of Bern, has been working to reveal the essence of their art not by adding, but by subtracting. What remains thereby gains even more significance and opens the door to a negative space that suddenly becomes important and meaningful. An almost independent force that brings the purity and expressive power of what is left to the forefront – often materially nothing more than glass, electricity, and light.

This understanding of their work as a counter-design to the culture of excess is what they call "Subtractive Art": while many seek to impress through abundance and complexity, the Swiss collective deliberately reduces.

 

With this intention, Encor invites viewers to slow down, look more closely, and trust that something meaningful emerges precisely through omission. In this form of minimalism, the studio sees not deprivation, but the pursuit of clarity. In their quiet, reduced language, they remind us that the deepest experiences often arise from an awakened awareness of what is absent.

The same applies to "Adsum", which was selected at the Swiss Design Award in 2024. The work, integrated into the SWISS Safety Video, creates an immersive experience of unexpected intensity through its reduction. It draws viewers into a moment between reality and illusion – seconds in which its simple square forms unfold an entire universe.

 

Simultaneity of revelation and concealment
At first glance, the technology behind "Adsum" and related works seems simple: as soon as electricity flows, the crystals in the ten glass panels hung in sequence align at different moments, eventually making the panels transparent. A simple process – and precisely for that reason, fascinating and innovative in its artistic vitality. "We didn’t invent this technology, but we twist and develop it further. We are not technologists, but artists who use technology," explains David Houncheringer.

 

"Alcove" – more from "Subtractive Art"
Focusing on simplicity, transforming spaces into living canvases where absence is as powerful as presence: all works in the "Subtractive Art" series play with this philosophy. 

Take, for example, "Alcove" – English for “niche.” It reflects the idea of the lost and the unsaid. “It explores how the past reveals its true meaning through involuntary memories. Fleeting moments resurface unexpectedly, reminding us of what we have not sufficiently appreciated,” the studio explains. This work appears in various forms: recently integrated into the windows of an industrial building in Berlin, or as the walls of a large shipping container on public grounds, inviting surprised passersby to stop and marvel.

 

Collaborations that push boundaries
Working with internationally renowned premium brands such as SWISS, Tag Heuer, or Omega provides Encor’s art not only with a stage beyond the traditional art audience but also opens up new perspectives and conceptual possibilities for both partners that go beyond their individual horizons.

That "Adsum" (here in action) is now being presented to a global audience of millions in the SWISS Safety Video, literally soaring beyond earthly boundaries, fills the studio with pride. David Houncheringer explains: "As a Swiss, I feel closely connected to our national airline. It is as quintessentially Swiss as a pocket knife or Swiss chocolate and exudes this special emotional aura. Safety films always bring back memories of my childhood – every time I watched one, I knew it marked the start of a new travel adventure. All the more special is being part of an iconic film today, which millions of people around the world will experience on board in the coming years."

 

Here I am
"Adsum" means "Here I am" in Latin. In Roman ritual, it was the traditional response of candidates during priest or virgin consecrations when called by name by the bishop – a public declaration of readiness. That is exactly what the work itself represents: ready to engage with the current zeitgeist and now also to travel cinematically around the world on board SWISS. Here, you can experience the magic of "Adsum" in the Safety Video.

Curious to see more from Encor? Wonder guaranteed – all current works and exhibitions can be discovered on Instagram. The complete overview and even more about Encor Studio can be found here.