Tom Fecht Luciferines - entre chien et loup
LUCIFER'S VORTEX (Luciferine #2433), 2020
©Tom Fecht and Laffanour | Galerie Downtown, Paris
Series
Luciferines — entre chien et loup captures the phenomenon of natural bioluminescence, photographed on the wild Atlantic coast of Brittany. Luciferines are cold-water plankton endangered by rising ocean temperatures. Their electrical effects occur when millions are exposed to oxygen while reproducing on the turbulent surface of the sea. Their sublime traces remain almost invisible to the naked eye and can only be captured entre chien et loup, a magical twilight moment when the first blue rays of daylight intersect with the remaining reflections of the moon.
In times of global warming, uncertainty, hesitation and subconscious fear are mirrored in the shifting limits of liquid spaces. The coastline will always be a place of transformation and inconsistency.
Like the dying coral reefs, luciferines tell us of a time when an exhausted nature hits a dangerous point of no return. In a world on fire, they simultaneously lead us to the magic of their beauty.
About the photographer
Frankenberg, Germany, 1952
German
Berlin, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland
About Tom Fecht
Fecht was inspired by the Apollo missions and Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey to study physics, thermodynamics and cybernetics at Columbia University, New York City. As a young engineer, he was involved in the development of fax machines and computer-assisted imaging at IBM. Fecht was among the first wave of artists to move into the rough industrial lofts of lower Manhattan, where he engaged with the vibrant early 1970s art scene, including Agnes Martin, Mark Rothko, Walter de Maria, Michael Heizer, Cristo and Jeanne-Claude, and in particular Robert Smithson. Early installations inspired by Smithson blended Fecht’s interest in Land Art and science.
A working residency in London expanded Fecht’s practice into high-tech and scientific imaging and he has since developed his own photographic and technical patents.
Fecht is known especially for innovative seascape and night photography. His recent work Studies of Ancient Light aims to push his experiments towards the edge of quantum physics in the way it visualises environmental phenomena.
His work has been exhibited at numerous venues including Museum Folkwang Essen, Germany (1999); Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2001); New York Public Library (2003–04); Musée des Beaux-Arts LAAC Dunkerque, France (2014) and Museum DKM, Duisburg, Germany (2025). His work is held in numerous corporate and private collections in Europe, North America, Asia, Brazil and Russia, including CERN Geneva, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Bundeskunsthalle Bonn and MuCEM Marseille.
Fecht has taught at Cornell University, New York state, in London at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College, and at ETH Zürich.