.

Asleep on a feather bed,
with black curtains around him,
an inverted torch,
(the earth was full of poppies)

2023

Site-specific commission for C3A, Córdoba

Led lights, 3D animation on façade. Switched on every evening, from sunset to midnight

Loop, 6" 5' —100 metres width


This intervention aims to intensify the relationship between light and human behaviour, turning the outer wall of the C3A into a kind of hypnotising machine. The light in movement is used as an interlacing that holds the distracted gazes of those who stroll along the riverside, affecting them in an oblique way.

The title describes the way Hypnos, the Greek mythological god of sleep and slumber, has been commonly depicted.

For this work, I looked into techniques such as circadian lighting, trance-inducing systems, flickering, phosphorescent screen glows and strobe light, to play with the correspondences between lighting and rhythms of life. Light is the engine that synchronises us with the day, with sleep (and the lack of it), as well as with multiple states of mind. For example, shock, tenderness, nervousness, tranquillity, delight or good concentration.

The piece for the façade of c3a was produced by abstracting and combining a selection of self-absorbed videos, including beaten eggs, magic tricks (how to make a coin disappear), documentaries on butterflies and sumbersion, knife sharpening, tutorials on how to train to look directly into the eyes, and whispering.

Video documentation by Juan López