doug aitken continues his virtual road trip through the creative process in an exclusive, ongoing video series with designboom, shared during the unpredictable times that COVID-19 has provoked. each of the short films has been shot in a different location, and documents the artist’s diverse work — from a series of sculptural bodies sited inside an abandoned storefront in los angeles, to a mirror-clad ‘mirage’ in the swiss alps. aitken’s visual sojourn invites viewers on a creative odyssey across landscape, artistic expression and societal currents — from wherever in the world they are experiencing this unprecedented moment in time.

 

for the sixth video in the series, aitken takes us to upstate new york to discover the private residence and foundation where he installed a site-specific earthwork, ‘lighthouse’. over the course of a year, aitken documented images of the landscape surrounding the property, capturing ephemeral views of the changing seasons. these sequences are projected onto the house’s frosted glass exterior surfaces, wrapping its façade in moving images of the environment in which it exists.

 

 

 

 

‘lighthouse’ fulfills the meaning of its name — transforming the allied works-designed structure into the illusion of fluid walls. projectors are placed outdoors, year-round, casting fleeting views of the rolling hills, open fields, and hardwood forest onto the architecture. the artwork phases in and out of synchronicity with its surroundings, capturing the transformation of the environment as it shifts between the seasons, and drawing on both micro and macro views. with ‘lighthouse’, aitken connects with the living environment to explore ideas of disappearance and transformation.

 

see more from doug aitken’s virtual road trip through the creative process, and stay tuned as designboom continues the series across our site, and on instagram. 

doug aitken's 'lighthouse' is an architecture-wrapping installation of changing landscapes filmed throughout the seasons
doug aitken, lighthouse, 2012
site-specific outdoor video installation wrapping house exterior with moving images of surrounding landscape, six channels of video (color, silent), seven projections forming five screens
image courtesy of the artist, 303 gallery, new york; galerie eva presenhuber, zürich; victoria miro gallery, london; and regen projects, los angeles; photo by doug aitken workshop

doug aitken's 'lighthouse' is an architecture-wrapping installation of changing landscapes filmed throughout the seasons
image courtesy of the artist, 303 gallery, new york; galerie eva presenhuber, zürich; victoria miro gallery, london; and regen projects, los angeles; photo by doug aitken workshop

doug aitken's 'lighthouse' is an architecture-wrapping installation of changing landscapes filmed throughout the seasons
image courtesy of the artist, 303 gallery, new york; galerie eva presenhuber, zürich; victoria miro gallery, london; and regen projects, los angeles; photo by doug aitken workshop

doug aitken's 'lighthouse' is an architecture-wrapping installation of changing landscapes filmed throughout the seasons
image courtesy of the artist, 303 gallery, new york; galerie eva presenhuber, zürich; victoria miro gallery, london; and regen projects, los angeles; photo by doug aitken workshop