On December 3rd, we had the privilege of illuminating the gardens of the Palais-Royal under the patronage of the French Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, the support of Centre des monuments nationaux, following the invitation from the Palais-Royal Committee.
The one-night luminous installation was entitled “La Nuit de Spirite », inspired by the characters in Théophile Gautier’s eponymous novel “Spirite”. The scepticism and boredom of dandy Guy de Malivert contrast with the hope incarnated by the radiant Spirite.
Our intention has been to honour the true nature of this garden through a contemporary lecture of its original gas lighting. The site-specific installation was arranged as a moving constellation around a gravitational point that we called the “pond of the hours”, inviting the visitor to unveil the secret of the garden while preserving its mystery. 180 copper lanterns, handmade in our atelier, were displayed along copper fields that related to the geometry of the place, forming a luminous carpet. The project awakened in the visitor the pleasure of contemplation. Light, time and geometry formed a unity, evoking the verse by Juan Ramón Jiménez “Light with Time inside”.