Springs of Love
an AR art project
Springs of Love was born from the meeting point of art, memory, and human connection. Conceived by conceptual artist Gabi von Seltmann in collaboration with digital artist Popesz Csaba Láng, the project brings together contemporary technology and intimate stories of love, remembrance, and healing.
Love as an Invisible Force
From Empress Theodora to the Contemporary Realm of Art
Branko Metzger-Šober
Love is often invisible, yet its traces shape the world more powerfully than many visible forces. It cannot be grasped or held, and yet it changes destinies and leaves a profound mark upon time. It is precisely this kind of love that connects the life of Empress Theodora with the contemporary artwork Springs of Love by the artistic duo Gabi von Seltmann and Popesz Csaba Lang.
Theodora’s story is not only one of rising from humble beginnings to the heights of power, but also a story of her relationship with Justinian I, shaped by trust, strength, and shared purpose. Love here is revealed not through tenderness, but through courage and mutual support — through the decision to remain together and resist chaos. It becomes a force capable of changing the course of history.
A similar idea is present in Springs of Love. Love is not portrayed as something static, but as an experience born through presence and participation. The installation hovers within space, shifting and elusive, revealing itself only to those who approach it with openness and willingness to encounter it. It is as though the artists remind us that love cannot exist without our presence — it is a constant becoming, like spring itself, endlessly returning.
Both Theodora and Springs of Love speak of love as something that transcends the private sphere and becomes part of the community. Theodora’s care for others and the public nature of this installation are connected by the same idea: love is not something we possess, but something we share.
Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that it is no coincidence that Springs of Love experienced its first great luminous moment in Brussels, at the Festival of Light, while today it finds its permanent home in Motovun. There, it will continue to live as an art installation open to passersby, to time, and to new encounters — a quiet reminder that once love becomes part of a place and a community, it remains present through generations.
Artists & Patrons
Springs of Love was born from the meeting point of art, memory, and human connection. Conceived by conceptual artist Gabi von Seltmann in collaboration with digital artist Popesz Csaba Láng, the project brings together contemporary technology and intimate stories of love, remembrance, and healing.
Conceptual artist and cultural animator Gabi von Seltmann explores themes of identity, memory, and complex historical entanglements through a variety of artistic forms. Working with contemporary media, she creates spaces for emotion, dialogue, and inner reflection. She believes that memory and love possess the power to overcome destruction and transience, and that art itself can restore hope, inspire, and heal. Together with her partner, writer Uwe von Seltmann, she developed the project Future of the Past, dedicated to exploring post-war memory and forgetting across generations.
Digital artist, creative programmer, and designer Popesz Csaba Láng is known for creating innovative, interactive experiences through AR, VR, and XR technologies. His projects — including PatchlabAR, Krakow ARtour, SOL.AR.IS, and the urban game E-LEM-ENTS — explore new ways of connecting audiences, spaces and the digital world. As Executive Director and new technologies specialist for the Patchlab Digital Art Festival, he develops contemporary artistic forms that blur the boundaries between technology and human experience.
After international careers in finance, Tanya and Jos Schmitt chose Istria as their home, inspired by its layered history, atmosphere, and cultural richness. As entrepreneurs, travellers, philanthropists, and long-time supporters of the arts, they have dedicated themselves to creating places of encounter, inspiration, and authentic experiences.
Through Experience Istria and Theodora Gastro Wine Bar in the heart of historic Motovun, they have created a space where art, gastronomy, wine, and people come together — a place that celebrates the beauty of sharing, conversation, and the creation of new memories.
Collaborators
Curation - Branko Metzger-Šober
Poetry - Urszula Honek
Sound design & production - Adam Powell “Mr Mada”
Vocals - Elena Roce
Spoken voices - Urszula Honek, Dorijana Močibob, Tanya Schmitt
Printing - Grin Media d.o.o.
Sponsors
Accomodation Sponsors
Municipality Sponsors
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