“Radiance”
Changing colors of a sunset using lenticullar printed photos
© Mustapha Azeroual




“Rotundum Lux Vestigio”
Moving phosphorescent images on the walls of a darkened room created by lasers and motorised glass plates
© Silvi Simon


Following the success of “Light Culture” at SPIE Photonics Europe in 2018, taking a look back at holography and the history of 3D imaging, the new exhibition, “Light Work/s” will move forwards to explore the frontier between art and science in the field of light, imaging and photonics.

Two French artists, Silvi Simon (Strasbourg) and Mustapha Azeroual (Paris), have been commissioned to present their work in this field, including new works of art developed in collaboration with researchers from the ICube Laboratory in Strasbourg and financed by the sponsors of the conference. In parallel, there will be information boards associated with the different works of art discussing the related scientific aspects.

At the intersection of photography and cinema, Silvi Simon’s works of art explore the frontiers between light and matter, and film and digital photography. Through immersive installations, the artist questions the experimental process itself, as well as the weaknesses of the imaging systems used to take the pictures.

Confronting historical imaging and printing techniques with contemporary photography, Mustapha Azeroual uses an experimental approach to question the very process and conditions involved in image formation using light.

Research, experimental approaches, exploration of light, works of art… “Light work/s” reveals the different possibilities of working with these raw materials central to SPIE Photonics Europe that Silvi Simon and Mustapha Azeroual seize with both hands in an attempt to bring out the poetry hidden in experimental research.

The exhibition will be opened by eminent speakers at an official “vernissage” during the conference reception on the Monday evening. The exhibition will be on show throughout the Strasbourg Convention Centre and will also be open to high school classes.

The exhibition is a creation of Emeline Dufrennoy, and is coordinated by Christine Montgomery.

Artworks on Display

1. "Radiance#6" Changing colors of a sunset using a lenticullar printed photo (1st floor, corridor "Salle Etoile")

2. "Filmatruc à verres #2, Birds" A 16 mm film projection onto a rotating glass sculpture (1st floor, "Salle Etoile", dark room)

3. "Rotundum Lux Vestigio #2" Moving phosphorescent images on the walls of a darkened room created by lasers and motorised glass plates (1st floor, bar "De Berckheim")

4. "Persistance" Images of plant landscape made outside at night, revealed by a green laser pointer / digital trick (1st floor, "Salle Etoile", projection wall)

5. "Blind Contact" Video recording the progressive blinding of a camera target by means of light, right to its destruction (1st floor, "Salle Etoile", projection wall)

6. "Spirit" Video made with an ultrafast time gated intensified camera to observe light propagating through a scene (1st floor, "Salle Etoile", projection wall)

7. "28364 pixels.pico, 2022" A tactile screen made of 28,364 optical fibers stuck together, with a film projected from behind (ground floor, below stairs descending near "Bar Schweitzer")

8. "Monade" Photogrammes produced from light sources and fluorescent pigments reacting to “black” light (ground floor, corridor between "Amsterdam" and "Rome" rooms, dark room)