The Extra Light Project is a multifacetted project, including the publishing of a book, group discussions, video work and light and haze installation. In this project, language preceded and played a crucial role in mediating the visual outcome.

The project started with group discussions, which took place two months prior to the installation, allowing interpretations of the work to precede its physical experience. The discussion groups consisted of people coming from two different social fields – art and religion – and included artists, art historians, writers, theologians and pastors. These discussions were recorded and edited into three videos, showed at the Lloyd Hotel Cultural Embassy in Amsterdam a week before the haze and light installation.

On December 10th, 2009, the haze and light installation took place at the Noorderkerk in Amsterdam. Four strong lamps were placed outside the church, illuminating the interior through the windows, while four smoke machines filled the church with a thick haze. Participants of the discussion groups attended the installation, further interpreting the project, this time also involving the audience.

According to art historian Steven ten Thije, the project “referred as much to the production of language within the project as to the amount of light produced on December 10th.” The language was constantly staged and produced as a theatrical moment, not only for comprehension, but also to reproduce the objective structures of two distinct social fields.