Commissioned by Maison Hermès, Paris, France
Very intense flashes of light seem to absorb the Hermès building. The light sets the building ablaze, projected onto the ‘screens’ of the façades and creating a hypnotic phenomenon. This landscape of light pulses takes the form of broad orange and pink stripes of equal value, fading and reappearing in sharp irregular rhythm. These perceptive lines permutate, change and radiate. Every half-second the light sequences adopt a new configuration: in the blinking of an eye, like an interstitial time flow that reinforces our hypnotic state. It’s as if we no longer control how long we can look at things: as if it’s impossible to stare. Our system of perception is modified. The luminous, saturated palpitations lead us into mobile intervals, suspending the building, which turns into a series of “camera shots”. The instability of what we see comes from the fluidity of the light, which makes the building appear transparent. The experience of the physical and perceptive presence of the viewer looking at this light causes a new perception of the building. A new visual and luminous geography absorbs us.
LED light projectors, gel filters, programming system