DIAGRAM OF LIGHTING

Diagram of Lightning (When The Sky Touches The Ground) is a monumental light sculpture that captures the form of a lightning strike recreated in neon light and suspended within a modular grid of scaffolding: 180 meters custom-made neon, steel scaffolding structure, concrete blocks stacked in pyramid shape. 

The scaffolding acts as a structural and conceptual frame: the human-made structure encasing the unpredictable form of nature. The grid breaks down the lightning’s organic path into discrete geometric units, like spatial pixels, echoing how we quantize natural phenomena through technology.  

At the base, pyramidal forms made from stacked bricks anchor the installation. These pyramids represent the fractal geometries of L-System algorithms. The same generative principles used to simulate natural growth and branching, making the base of the structure a representation of how the lightning on top was formed. 

Credits: 

Curators: 

Li Zhenhua (Curator) @lzhenhua 

Sara Almutlaq (Curator) @sara.endipity 

Mami Kataoka (Curatorial Advisory Lead) @mami_kataoka_2018 

Artwork Concept, Direction, Composition : James Clar @_james_clar 

Producers: Alex Czetwertynski @alexczetwertynski and Nicolas Wierinck @nicolas_wierinck 

Commission: Noor Riyadh @noorriyadhfestival @riyadhartofficial 

Neon fabrication: Art Project France @art_project.pro 

Scaffolding: Absolute Stage Structures @assscaffolding 

Produced by That Right There @that.right.there 

Jane Lombard Gallery @janelombardgallery  

Lawrie Shabibi Gallery @lawrieshabibi  

Silverlens Gallery @silverlensgallery  

Noor Riyadh 2025 is organized by Riyadh Art, under the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) 

© 2025 JAMES CLAR. All Rights Reserved