SKIN OF LIGHT
at SET Bermondsey
The skin of light enveloping this world lacks depth and I can actually see the black night of all these
similar bodies beneath the trembling veil and light of myself it is this night that even the mask of the
sun cannot hide from me I am the seer of night the auditor of silence for silence too is dressed in
sonorous skin and each sense has its own night even as I do I am my own night I am the conceiver
of non-being and of all its splendor I am the father of death she is its mother she whom I evoke
from the perfect mirror of night i am the great inside-out man my words are a tunnel punched
through silence I understand all disillusionment I destroy what I become I kill what I love.
Skin of Light, Rene Daumal
Skin of light is an installation birthed from the concept of a trash trance chapel. Throughout the ages we have employed many methods in the attempt to reach a state of ascension: religion, art, architecture, music, dance, drugs. This work brings together several of these elements to create a multi-sensory experience. Pulling on themes of rave culture, light and sacred space, Kate has created a new kind of chapel; one in which the only subject to worship is ascension itself.
Skin of Light took place in 2020 at SET Bermondsey in London, UK. The visual installation was by Kate Dunn and the sound by Inigo Blue and Shoobz Darg.
Since 2018 Kate has used structures reminiscent of the altar, she is interested in the internal archive one experiences when faced with such an iconic shape. Kate considers spacial dynamics an important element to her practice, often manipulating the display of her work to encourage a kind of confrontation with the viewer. This is the first time Kate has worked with uv reactive materials or pigments that emit light. The pigment works by absorbing the charge of uv rays and then emitting that charge as light, similar to the stars you might have had in your room as a child. This results in the paintings constantly being active, changing colour and brightness according to their environment, always in flux.
