The starry walled cinema at Silencio de Près hosted a celestial and immersive cinematic experience in honor of Pauline David’s award winning work Pavilion of Moonlight Horizon, imagined for the Saudi Arabian Noor Riyadh Festival, whose massive installations stretched across the whole of Riyadh in late 2022.
David’s extraordinary lunar metal structure and surrounding installation are projected onto the theater’s screen which is framed with shimmering silver garland. Weighing in at 21 tons, this is as close to Paris as the piece will get. In a tone that is both somewhat spiritual and somewhat technical, David herself narrates the film, recalling its inspiration, creation and eventual reception. As the audience watches the piece from sunrise to sunset, through the night and again into the following day, lights dance around the theater’s walls, ceiling, and plush blue seats to recreate the installation’s dazzling light show which reflects and mimics the interplay of light and shadow amongst the sun, moon, stars, and planet earth.
Following the impressive introduction to the piece and her work there is a feeling of awe which stretches across the room as Pauline David takes the stage. She explains with an almost ironically humble and unassuming gentleness how her colossal, celestial creation went from blueprint to full scale in a week’s time despite the many technological aspects to execute, and some unforeseen electrical obstacles. Seems…almost…cosmic!
Someone in the audience asks if the piece will be recreated or moved to be viewed somewhere new, and she jokes that maybe a little keychain charm could be made. For now- you can experience the poetic spectacle of Pauline David’s installation online or in the titular photobook published by Collectif Combo Éditions, Moonlight Horizon.
Pauline David’s conceptual lighting and design studio, Light Is More, is located at 48 Avenue Parmentier, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. Learn more about the installation and the Noor Riyadh Festival at https://riyadhart.sa/en/artworks/pavilion-of-moonlight-horizon-2022/ .
