2. Big French Kiss – 2014

Light installation by Benjamin Bergery
with technology by Jim Campbell
2 movie lights, dimmer & custom software

Two powerful 500-watt movie lights inside a room project two large soft circles of light through a window on the facade of a building across the street. The title invites the viewer to see the fluctuating rhythms of the lights as a prolonged French kiss. The casual passerby may have his or her own evocations.

Here’s the view inside:

And here’s what it looks like on the building outside:

+++

Finally, here is a video of a 70-second portion of the light rhythms, shot by Sarah late at night on Broadway Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles:

watch on YouTube

+++

Among other things, Big French Kiss evokes an outdoor movie screen, but this is a primitive, abstract kind of cinema, which may feel like a big close-up, but does not offer a real image of the kissers.

The rhythm of the Big French Kiss outside is identical to the rhythm of the much smaller French Kiss installation on the other side of the room, which is created by two 40-watt table lamps pointed at the wall.

The showing of the same disembodied content in a big and small installation is an illustration of the separation of form and content inherent in my digital work.

+++

The Bed is a third piece in the show which complements the Kiss diptych.

+++