Handling Electric Light: Piotr Kowalski’s Illuminating Mesures à prendre

Artist Piotr Kowalski not only used electric light as an artistic medium in his Mesures à prendre (1969) but also enabled visitors to touch and manipulate it. The author demonstrates how electric light, in the context of Kowalski’s work, functions as a mediator between the public, technology, art, and science. She reflects on the combination of electric light and tactility, citing the ideas of philosopher Marshall McLuhan, and scrutinizes how visitors’ handling of Kowalski’s fluorescent tubes affected their level of participation, experimentation, and illumination (literally and figuratively).