Vishal K Dar

On the south side of Luleå’s central peninsula, in the first and last weeks of the biennial, a monumental light work by the artist Vishal K Dar will play out. Six beams of light from three locations – the crane at Södra Hamn, Cementa’s silo, and the barge - will move in precise mechanic rhythm making spatial diagrams in light along the coast, on the water and in the sky. The three sites sit on the edge of the city, separated by 145 degrees. As the temperature drops, the water will become solid and the distinction between ground and water will dissolve. In this way, the work takes place in two steps: when that distinction exists and when it doesn’t.

With a background in architecture and a deep interest in the scientific understanding of the physical laws of light and space, Dar creates a work in which darkness itself assumes the status of icon. The title, Dirghtamas, roughly translates to “a long darkness,” a reference to the long winter night’s of the north. The beams move by a pre-programmed time-index that has them appear and disappear in turn. Dar studies light in transformation, and with his work stages an intervention into days that have taken the shape of nights. Together, the six beams will make up cosmological clocks. And lit up, the oversized objects in the harbour will seem delirious, like ghostly creatures stepping into the space of the work. The beams of light appear as both innards and breath for these industrial effigies, as if the stars themselves were put to work in the quiet chaos of the darkness.

Vishal K Dar (b. in New Dehli, 1976) in an artist based in Gurgaon.

Thanks to Dykab, Cementa, Luleå Municipality, Luleå Technical University and Iaspis.

Work

Dirghtamas, 2018
New commission

Location

Southern part of the central peninsula, Luleå
17.11.2018–17.2.2018