Dear Blake

If we shine a light into the darkest corners,does that mean we can see and understandeverything better? Can’t that radiance blind us, lead us to new barbarism and mistakes we’ll regret? What about you, Blake? Are you happier knowing how things are? 

In 1988, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America, Congress launched the Columbus 500 competition, which focused on the use of solar energy in space transportation. A Russian team participated in the competition with a design for the solar sailing ships Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria, named after the Columbus fleet. The plan was ultimately not implemented, but became the basis for the Znamya project, which was to use a satellite with a mirror reflecting light rays to illuminate large areas during the night. But this project has braver roots and is part of modernity's attempt to make night into day, or in other words, to colonize the nights. The seven-channel video installation, using both original and archival material, focuses on these efforts. The main audio channel is framed by an epistolary form where the narrative of the colonization of the night intersects with the reflection of a broken relationship. Like some of our loves, some modernist utopias remain unfulfilled.