Hyperreal light simulacra: performing buildings in motion

Son et lumière (sound and light) performances are visitor attractions which are increasingly staged at historic sites, animating monumental buildings such as Buckingham Palace and the cathedrals of Amiens, Rouen and Canterbury. Many monumental, iconic, historic structures convey a sense of ‘architectural agency’, and ‘heritage effect’ (MacDonald, 2009; Smith, 2006) and this chapter suggests that lighting performances contribute a further level of ‘affective atmosphere’ (Edensor, 2012).

The chapter explores multiple levels of authenticity in different types of son et lumière performances, focusing on Eco (1986) and Baudrillard’s (1981) theories of hyperreality. Light projections create a dialogue between the material building and a second, radiant, phantasmagorical presence, or third-order simulacrum (Baudrillard, 1981, p.3), which is detached from the original structure, generating sensations of hyperreality. Comments from semi-structured interviews conducted with lighting designers are interwoven throughout the chapter, which also draws on the case studies of three different events which were staged by the author.