AURA, 2017

Nick Verstand’s AURA (2017) is an audiovisual installation that transforms people’s emotions into undulating light compositions. Developed in collaboration with Dutch sound artist Salvador Breed (b. 1984), the project is a visual tribute to British artist Anthony McCall’s series Solid Light Works, which features volumetric shapes composed of projected light in a three-dimensional space.

In Verstand’s AURA, three conical beams hang like translucent curtains from the ceiling of a dark room. When the installation debuted at Dutch Design Week in 2017, visitors were invited to sit or lie within the perimeter of these compositions while equipped with biosensors that tracked heart rate, galvanic skin response and brainwaves. As they listened to Breed’s musical piece, their individual ‘emotional’ data was reflected in the light’s form, color, and intensity.

At Noor Riyadh 2024, the artwork’s light compositions are based on data from past visitors, allowing the new audience to sit within the beams and experience the emotional responses of those who interacted with the artwork before them.