This work on the representation of light was started during my stay at Villa Médicis between 1996 and 1998, then reworked at Casa de Velazquez between 1999 and 2001 and resumed in Kyoto in spring 2018. We can capture light, cultivate it within ourselves and give it back its fruits like trees, gift and counter-gift, as we are taught by the so-called primitive societies whose lifestyles are so well suited to their ecosystem. But Ultimately, it is our relationship to the world that is at stake here: this Book of Hours is the sound experience, from night to night.

Thierry Machuel

The rabbi : What did you see, Sarah, in the depths of hell?

Sarah : I see the fire, but I don’t see Yukel. I see the water smothering the flame, but I don’t see Yukel. I see water and fire.

The rabbi : What did you see, Yukel, in the middle of the night?

Yukel : I see the shadow in the shadow, but I don’t see the night. I see the sun in the sun, but I don’t see the day.

The rabbi : What do you expect, Sarah, in the depths of hell?

Sarah : I am between iron and iron and I dream of horizons. I’m between the wall and the wall and I dream of harvests.

The rabbi : What do you expect, Yukel, in the middle of the night?

Yukel : Do not see; the latest see in order to reach the last promontory of sight.

Edmond Jabès, Le livre des questions, excerpt, Gallimard