The 7 (2005)
By Paul Chan
American artist Paul Chan has achieved international acclaim for his drawings, videos and installations that blend a novel drawing aesthetic with philosophical reflections on politics, religion, sex and life today. The Serpentine Gallery is pleased to present the world premiere of the complete series of The 7 Lights, 2005–07, largescale digital projections and drawings that ‘hallucinate’ the seven days of creation from dawn to dusk. The series explores themes of the sacred and the profane, and temptation and renunciation, in relation to world. The projections are presented on floors, walls and corners, appearing like light and shadows emanating from nearby windows. The 7 Lights compress and animate moving images from the past and the present into the stark fleetingness of shadows as they float in and out of a picture frame that is neither televisual nor cinematic. Chan’s early works include single-channel videos and digital animations projected onto panoramic screens that sample and reference a range of sources from art history to popular culture. The lo-fi digital style of drawing and the inclusion of cultural figures, such as rapper Biggie Smalls and Italian fi lmmaker Pier Pa…
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