Haig Aivazian

1,2,3 soleil ! (1440 sunsets per 24 hours series)

For the exhibition 1440 sunsets per 24 hours at KADIST Paris in 2017, Haig Aivazian presented a sprawling installation, which sought to enact various instances of the deployment of light and darkness within public space and sports, reflecting on the double-edged abilities of lighting systems to expose, highlight or dissimulate subjects. For the installtion 1,2,3 soleil ! the space was structured like a material index, posing limbs and skins from stadiums and public spaces —namely floodlights, electric poles and asphalt— alongside abstract drawings inspired by policing and sporting data visualization iconography. For the artist, the stadium as a social space offers a lot of insight about more widespread social infrastructure, such as security regimes. In light of the history of technology, big data, and their relationship with government surveillance, places such as the Stade de France — the theatre of, at the same time, concerts, sporting events or terrorist attacks — become highly symbolical and profoundly political.