Threshold by Emilio Ferro, vertical beam of light descending from the oculus onto a black pedestal inside the Chapelle Expiatoire, Paris

Threshold | Photo: Roberto Conte | © 2026 Emilio Ferro

THRESHOLD
June 06, 2026
Temporary installation
Chapelle Expiatoire, Paris, France

Threshold is a site-specific light and sound installation by Italian artist Emilio Ferro, unveiled on 6 June 2026 during Paris' Nuit Blanche, commissioned by the City of Paris and presented at the Chapelle Expiatoire in Paris.

Conceived for the historic monument, the work explores the threshold as both an architectural and perceptual condition. A powerful beam of white light emerges from a metal structure and extends through the chapel, creating a luminous volume that appears almost tangible despite being entirely immaterial.

Threshold establishes a continuous dialogue with the building that hosts it. The opening and closing of the chapel directly influence the behavior of the light: when the doors open, the beam extends toward the surrounding garden; when the space closes, the light retracts and settles onto the interior architectural surfaces.

This dynamic relationship transforms the architecture into an active element of the work, creating an ongoing dialogue between interior and exterior space, permanence and change.

Visitors become active participants in the installation. Their movement through the chapel introduces subtle variations in perception, generating an environment that constantly evolves according to presence, duration, and viewpoint.

An original sound composition accompanies the experience. Developed from magnetic field frequencies recorded by the artist and subsequently reworked, the sound expands the installation beyond the visual realm, creating a suspended atmosphere in which space and time appear to slow down.

With Threshold, Emilio Ferro transforms light into a perceptual material capable of redefining architecture and generating an intermediate territory between material and immaterial realities.

Studio Artera oversaw project coordination and artist representation for Threshold, an installation presented at the Chapelle Expiatoire in Paris, a historic monument managed by the Centre des Monuments Nationaux (CMN).