Conceived for the Critical Reflection program of Les Territoires, En obscurité explores the key role that darkness plays within the constitution and reception of visual and aural works of art. In order to experiment with the potential and plurality of questions that obscurity raises and refers to, the gallery's lighting will gradually change from dimness to almost complete darkness. To adapt to this change in light, the works will transform themselves or be adjusted by the artists along the way. The aim is not merely to play with light but rather to present obscurity as an active, functioning component, a material that can be manipulated. One of the strengths of obscurity is its atmospheric nature, which creates or reinforces the mood of a given space, while invoking the nocturnal or even the cosmos. Whereas this nocturnal space is particularly hard to define, questions pertaining to loss of reference and sensory modulations become inevitable when a space is immersed in darkness. Hence, the transition from partial to near total darkness will allow viewers to observe the impact that the varying levels of obscurity can produce on the perception of the works, each of which presents a possible articulation of the symbolic referents of obscurity with the exhibition context. Developed as an experimental lab, this project includes a round table presentation that will serve as a space for dialogue between the artists and the public, and will further reflection on darkness as an artistic and museal strategy beyond its strictly logistical function.

Developed as an experimental lab, this project will also comprise a round table presentation which will serve as a space for dialogue between the artists and the public, and to further reflections on darkness as an artistic and museal strategy, beyond its strictly logistical function.

image: Karen Trask, paysage nocturne, 2011, photo credit: Paul Litherland