nightcolors.art
2018
Website
HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, PNG images
Dimensions variable

An ephemeral art piece experienced for one year only on the website www.nightcolors.art. Philippe Safire utilizes the internet browser for this yearlong project so that the work can be experienced by anyone. Between 05.01.18 to 04.30.2019, each night a new image of increasing complexity was revealed. Philippe Safire designed 365 images to cover this time period, playing off highly saturated colors with shades of black and white. On the last day, nightcolors.art displayed the original image appropriation: Navajo Boy by Karl E. Moon, retrieved from the Library of Congress, Washington. Philippe Safire was inspired by the process of data downloading on the internet, where images first appear pixelated before reaching their full resolution. The arrival of information invokes a sense of progress through technology but Safire gives it a surprising twist by calling out an iconic image from the past.

Using public domain material, nightcolors was designed as part of an effort to reconsider American history by foregrounding civilizations and peoples who are often overlooked in our insatiable quest to dominate the future.

The below thumbnails represent the images that were displayed sequentially over a year: