PRESENTATION: Taking the Sun

The sun is so familiar and daily that we sometimes forget it. It is no longer just its light that rhythmically invades our lives, as some artists emphasize, but rather the electric light of lamps and screens. Enhanced by pollution, its disturbed heat reminds us of the sublime mystery of its burning consistency. The sun’s burns, its blows, its traces, and its effects activate the imagination of artists fascinated by the ambivalences without which life on Earth would not exist: the sun warms but burns; it illuminates while dazzling… It cannot be looked at directly without burning the eyes.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Hangar Y Archive

The exhibition “Taking the Sun” explores the fascination that this star exerts on contemporary artists. The works of visual artists, photographers, musicians, and videographers engages in dialogue within the spaces alongside scientific and popular imagery. Each of them bears witness to the power or ambivalence of the sun, which has been and remains a major and inexhaustible source of creation. From photography to performance, sculpture, drawing, embroidery, writing, and video, all mediums are summoned to better approach this inaccessible star, to observe it, seize it, and imagine it, in order to represent it. The exhibition appeals to both contemporary art enthusiasts and astronomy enthusiasts, as well as lovers of sunsets and those who derive simple pleasure from its first rays.  From Marcel Duchamp’s green ray to Laurent Grasso’s double sun, to the multiple digital suns collected on Flickr by Penelope Umbrico, and the photographs of sunspots by astronomer Jules Janssen, the exhibition offers a luminous and sensory journey composed of contemporary works. To mark the opening of its new exhibition, Hangar Y invites artists, designers and researchers to challenge visitors on the effects of ultraviolet light. UV rays, which are responsible for the development of life, are also responsible for numerous health problems, such as skin cancer. Through installations, workshops, experiments, videos and even an ephemeral photo studio, the effects of the sun on the skin are progressively revealed, warning of the consequences of unprotected exposure to the sun. Gentle, sensitive and playful approaches to discover how to continue “sunbathing” in complete safety.  In Pierre-Louis Ferrer’s “Solar Visions” an ephemeral photo studio raises public awareness of the dangers of exposure to the sun, particularly UV-A rays. Each portrait reveals these marks, invisible to the naked eye, thanks to ultraviolet photography. UV rays, which are responsible for the development of life, are also responsible for numerous health problems. Through installations, workshops, experiments, videos and even an ephemeral photo studio, the effects of the sun on the skin are gradually revealed, warning of the consequences of unprotected exposure to the sun. Gentle, sensitive and playful approaches to discover how to continue “sunbathing” in complete safety. With “Ultraviolet awakening”, designer Maude Guirault presents a collection of objects that bear witness to variations in ultraviolet levels. Intended to awaken the general public to the effects of the sun, Melanocyte and Epidermal landscape under ultraviolet light are transformed under the influence of UV, making them perceptible through color variations. In the Installation and workshop “I know a thing or two!” Elsa Seban raises children’s awareness of photoprotection through objects presented at educational workshops. These enable the implementation of rituals that teach children to protect themselves from the sun. Ludmila Rodrigues and Mike Rijnierse have been collaborating since 2011. Together, they design large-scale installations in public spaces. They create in harmony with the environment, fostering interactions between visitors and spaces. Through their work, the artists encourage the public to play an active role, enabling both an architectural and a sensory experience of their imposing structures. With everyday situations as their starting point, they bring a new perspective on our relationship with objects, architecture and nature. The sunset, a natural, everyday phenomenon, exerts a timeless and universal fascination. It is one of the most frequently captured subjects, from the emergence of color photography in the 20th century, to the popularization of smartphones. Broadcast and shared on social networks, thousands of times over, under the hashtag sunset, the sunset is increasingly experienced through the screens of cameras. Reduced to a digital visual experience, it’s becoming rare to capture the original scale and splendor of this phenomenon. With “Sunset in the Woods”, Ludmila Rodrigues and Mike Rijnierse artificially recreate this natural spectacle to overcome these contradictions. The sunset, by nature fleeting and limited to a single vantage point, acquires a new perspective thanks to this floating sculpture on the surface of the Bassin de Chalais, with the forest of Meudon in the background. The artist duo suspend time and distort space. Lit throughout the night and visible at 360 degrees, Sunset in the Woods renews the experience of the setting sun. The work invites us to stroll slowly and contemplatively, offering the public the opportunity to gravitate around the sun as night falls. Hangar Y invites choreographers, dancers, composers and researchers for an afternoon dedicated to dance, music and science. The “M51” show named after the Tourbillon galaxy, draws its inspiration from astrophysics and the playful approaches of artists such as painter Gérard Garouste and writer Georges Perec. In the hangar’s nave, 54 dancer-performers gradually build up to the point of explosion. This choreographic puzzle transports the spectator into an abstract, colorful world inspired by the cosmos, whose appearance is defined by the energy of the dancers and their interactions. A round-table discussion on the creative process punctuates both performances. The afternoon concludes with a soaring DJ set that takes us ever closer to the stars.

Participating Artists: Guillaume Aubry, Mustapha Azeroual, Abdelkader Benchamma, Jean Claracq, Caroline Corbasson, Raphaël Dallaporta, Tacita Dean, Disnovation.org, Rachel Duckhouse, Samuel Fosso, Léon Foucault, Fragmentin, Erwan Frotin, Marina Gadonneix, Noémie Goudal, Laurent Grasso, Jules Janssen, Anne Lindberg, Colectivo Los Ingradìvos, Thomas Mailaender, Massao Mascaro, Peter Miller, Desire Moheb-Zandi, Morris, Martin Parr, Joan Rabascall, Sébastien Reuzé, Simon Roberts, Ludmila Rodrigues & Mike Rijnierse, Dagoberto Rodriguez, Charles Ross, Camille Sauvageot, SMITH, Stéphanie Solinas, Sun Ra & his Arkestra, Clara de Tezanos, Laure Tiberghien, Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, Penelope Umbrico & Gwenola Wagon

Photo: Maude Guirault, Ultraviolet Awakening, © Maude Guirault, Courtesy the artist and Hangar Y

Info: Curators: Aurélie Baron, Luce Lebart & Marta Ponsa, Scenography: Cécile Degos, Hangar Y, 9 avenue de Trivaux, Meudon, France, Duration: 16/12/2023-21/4/2024, Days & Hours: Mon-Fri 11:00-19:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-20:00, https://hangar-y.com/