Xanthophyll

Preface – “Xanthophylls are a series of plants’ natural substances responsible for the leaves’ yellow, orange and red colours during the autumn period.”

A blanket of dried leaves, in different shades, lies on the floor of St Michael’s sanctuary. The unfinished roof cuts out the blue of the sky. On the ground, the instant in which the light filters into the church during the summer solstice is frozen. A visual synthesis rendered by reorganising the foliage according to the different colours: in light with red leaves, in shade with brown leaves. The initial arrangement of the leaves, after the days of the visit, will slowly degrade into a structure self-organised by the visitors flow. The aim is to cancel out the clear initial partition and to spontaneously generate an amorphous, amalgamated form typical of natural foliage. The acoustics of the architecture echoes the rustling of the leaves moved by the visitors. The dead leaf becomes the instrument, visitor the performer. In the church, the forest resounds under a new light.