Les années lumière
A bird’s eye view of a little over 3 years of violence, strife, and very bright lights rocking Lebanon, remembered and replayed in 45 minutes of proportionally timed light display.
in collaboration with
Rouba Khalil
Electronics on canvas
2008
22 x 30 inches
Wire mesh, Leds, electrical
components on canvas.
Les années lumière is the result of months-long research and documentation of every single explosion that occurred in Lebanon between February 14th, 2005 and May 14th, 2008, a stretch of time that witnessed a string of unexpected assassinations, sporadic violence and three wars of varying size (israel, nahr el bared and beirut).
In the absence of any public archives, statistics or scientific data documenting the events, these three years of constant -or even daily- back and forth between extreme fear and normalcy rest forever in the collective memory. Les années lumière visualizes the data in light, 1185 days, and 385 days of explosions in a timescale condensed to 45 minutes, in a way that only a performative canvas can achieve. A physical switch labeled “remember/forget” triggers the piece and brings the map of Lebanon to life from the perspective of an imagined person watching down on us from above.
