Alliance Française, SINGAPORE

1999-2000, light installation

This light installation simultaneously uses and reveals architectural space. Light is used to eliminate the boundaries between interior and exterior. The main façade of the building is made of glass, and this installation transforms its reflective properties. The special lighting I created makes it possible to forget the materiality of the glass façade; the intense red light is diffused outside the limits and bathes the people inside, inviting them to wander through illuminated red monochromatic spaces that have a stimulating effect. Perpendicular to the main façade is an opaque façade with geometric openings on the outside. These rows of rectangles glow with an orange light similar to sodium light, transforming the view of the surrounding urban landscape. This light has the optical effect of bringing objects closer—here, tropical trees and plants. In addition, the orange light gives rise to a particular reading of the building’s internal layout. Through the filters installed in front of the windows, the viewer perceives the shadows of what is happening on the other side of the façade.

PAR 62 1KW light projectors, 150w Black Tungsten Floodlight, PAR 38 120w, 36w fluorescent tubes, gel filters