Soleil Rouge, 2022
Digital video projection on metal
Video: loop, PAL, colour, stereo sound
Sound: stereo audio exciters attached on the screen
Screen: metal, 118 x 90 cm
synopsis
Metaphorically embodying the name of Kulturfabrik’s gallery, Terres Rouges (the earthly element from which metal is made, but also the colour tone of its degraded rust state), and following the historical context of the city of Esch-sur-Alzette (embedded in an industrial past related to the extraction and manipulation of steel), Alagôa’s installation piece Soleil Rouge encapsulates metal in several states of its conception.
The image of the star sun that is reflected in the gallery is, in its genesis, the result of the superimposition between microscopic images of an iron ore collected around the mining sites of Esch. The simple interplay of scales (1. its original microscopic presence; 2. its refractive state reflected in the mirror; and 3. its projected up-scaled version) turns molecular matter into a galaxy in a constant state of activity. The piece brings forth the continuous cycle of energy along the entire exhibition: still and moving, projection and receptive surface, corporeal and incorporeal. Matter turned into light piercing our perception, making us wonder about our relationship to the image in all its layered potential: a red iron ore under a microscope, resembling an exploding light star, projected into metal, inside a gallery named Terres Rouges, located in one of the most historical cities related to the production of metal.