Blindness in Full Visibility -Doug Wheeler’s “Day Night Day” at David Zwirner

Have you ever wondered what it is like to stare into the darkness when it is white? When immersed in literal darkness, one’s fear comes from not being able to see. But in overwhelming whiteness, when everything is visible, what is it that we are truly afraid of?

Doug Wheeler, a pioneer of the Light and Space movement in the 1960s, presents one of his most mind-blowing works DN ND WD 180 EN - NY 24 (2024) at David Zwirner’s 537 West 20th Street location in New York. Upon entering the space, viewers will encounter two soft-edged, luminous walls of light that appear foggy and seemingly solid. This can be misleading, as one might think these walls mark the end of the installation, until they realize, as I did when a fellow viewer walked straight into the “wall,” that there’s much more beyond. Wheeler’s installation shows that fear is not limited to blindness or darkness but can also rise from full visibility. What appears is a space with no discernible borders, no ceiling, and no perceivable end, a limitless void. When staring into the whiteness, it feels almost as if staring into darkness, with no way to measure the distance or the space. It is pure void. I found myself walking cautiously, with exaggerated strides and my hands raised, like someone trying to navigate in the dark, afraid of bumping into something unseen. I was surrounded by pure light and fully aware of everything around me. Yet, the fear of ‘not seeing’ arise even as I stood in endless visibility. It left me with a profound feeling of being both aware and lost at the same time. When everything is exposed, One may lose the reassurance of recognizing where the boundaries are, where the limit of space begins or ends. This leads to the question: Is one afraid of what cannot be seen, or of the overwhelming emptiness that comes from seeing everything clearly?

This experience of simultaneously feeling lost and aware somewhat echoed the theme of the show ”Day Night Day,” where Doug Wheeler was inspired by his personal encounter with the rare and marvelous celestial event of daylight and the night sky simultaneously visible on opposite horizons, a phenomenon he witnessed while flying his 1978 Cessna over the Southwest. Wheeler recreates this moment in the installation, where light fills every corner yet feels profoundly empty and void, rendering a sense of divine presence.

When reflecting on my experience within the space Wheeler created, a brief yet profound sense of fear, helplessness, or perhaps awe, washed over me as I tried to make sense of the overwhelming environment. It was a conflicting experience: to see, yet not see. Like standing in the daylight, yet feeling as though it were the night.