Zen

Light installation (2020)
Electroluminescent wires, acrylic, motor, microcontroller and custom electronic componants.
32” x 32” x 4 ½”

The Zen kinetic and light installation uses electroluminescent wires that mimic neon signs. A character wearing a mask sits cross-legged in a meditation position. In the foreground is the word CONFINEMENT. Through a motor, the third letter of the word, the N, rotates and transforms into Z. Momentarily, the letters C-O-F-I-N-M-E and T disappear, only the word ZEN remains lit.

The installation is perhaps reminiscent of a brand logo or shop signs, however here it does not represent either of the two and does not encourage consumption. It communicates anxiety transformed into resilience, an invitation to live serenely with the traumatic experience of confinement in times of pandemic. The work also evokes the famous posters of the British Government's "Keep Calm and Carry On" campaign in 1939, which used simple graphics and advertising to encourage the population to remain calm during the war, and which never fails to recall the slogan “It's going to be fine” and the rainbow omnipresent in Quebec during the pandemic.

Created with the support