Curated by Lowie Vermeersch
Buda Tower
Korte Kapucijnenstraat
Kortrijk, Belgium
‘Arcades’ is a site specific installation that inscribes one architectural space within another; an arcade made of the light is implanted into a space defined by strong brick walls, a pitched roof and exposed wooden beams, that of a former stable. The arcade is given shape by a series of 14 pillars of light that are met by fresnel lenses refracting the rays that travel through their focal points. When travelling through the lenses, the light beams do not simply change direction but bend hyperbolically to form the arches of gothic architecture.
'Arcades' creates a spatial suspension of disbelief which questions our relationship with the metaphysical in a world increasingly governed by practical, rational and scientific principles. By confronting the viewer with the seemingly impossible phenomenon of bending light it creates a space for contemplation and introspection, suggesting a synthesis between agnostic reason and intuitive belief.
The arcade of light lies between the intangible and physical, the visible and the seemingly impossible. It asks the viewer to pause and contemplate the surrounding space whilst promoting openness rather than closure. The illusion doesn't usurp but rather re-enforces the experience of a space. Here, in the spirit of stain-glass, of ‘Lux Nova’, in which spirituality is invoked through light, science invokes the sublime.