Palazzo Farnese, Rome, ITALY
2007, Light Installation
LUCE DI PIETRA, Franco-Italian Contemporary art walk in Rome
Curators: Henry-Claude Cousseau and Marcello Smarelli
Like a place of refuge in urban space, the basement of the Farnese Palace immerses visitors in shimmering light. This installation confuses our perception and acts like a mirage. A luminous bridge invites visitors to walk across it; the waves are green, making bodies seem weightless. Projections of intense purple light reveal a horizontal strip lighting up the running horses and acrobats as time unfolds. The lights move forward, increasing in intensity as they progress. The movement of light that is produced each time the visitor makes the tiniest movement draws him or her into a feeling of weightlessness. The motion of the horses and acrobats appears like a mirage in the basement. The coloured light is hypnotic: the effect of the purple colour flooding the floor. An initial ray of light appears, moves gradually to the back of the space, and disappears. No sooner has darkness been created, the movement of the luminous running horses begins again, endlessly. These emissions of light seem to freeze the spectacle of the horses into regular, infinite sequences. At the other end of the bridge, the place itself seems weightless: the experience of the visitor’s physical and perceptive presence.
Light projectors, fluorescent tubes, gel filters, lighting console, programming system, 61 sq. m.
