Mellow Yellow

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We visited the Pompidou Museum in Paris this summer for our honeymoon and experienced the Philippe Rahm installation Diurnisme.

Rahm subverted the perpetual day created by modernity and contemporary globalization. The room is bathed in a bright orange/yellow light with wavelengths upwards of 600 nanometers, which is perceived by the body as night.

The hormone melatonin guides our perception of day or night. The light of the room triggers the production of melatonin, tricking the body into thinking it’s night. We didn’t get too sleepy, though—we’d just enjoyed some cappuccinos. The first photo above is the exhibit, the second is my husband about to enter, and the third is my favorite painter, Lisa Yuskavage, who painted a woman changing in the yellow light of morning.

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