Painting With Light at the Tate Modern

A 75-minute live video-mapping performance in Tate Modern's South Tank that turns everyday objects into an evolving temporary sculpture.

Painting With Light at Tate Modern showing projected imagery mapped onto a temporary sculptural arrangement.
Performance still from Tate Modern, London, 2013.

Painting With Light at the Tate Modern was a 75-minute live video-mapping performance presented in the South Tank at Tate Modern on 26 April 2013 for the opening night of the #HYPERLINK festival. Using his custom Painting With Light software, May built scenes from everyday objects and overlaid them with projected moving image, allowing the work to shift continuously between sculpture, projection, and performance. The piece treated simple materials as a temporary structure for light, rhythm, and transformation.

The performance connects to May’s wider practice through its interest in how technology alters what we see in ordinary things and how quickly those transformed states disappear. Rather than fixing an image in place, the work stayed unstable, with projection and object constantly remaking one another in real time. It reflects his ongoing concern with temporary forms of recording and display, where perception, presence, and loss remain closely tied.

Additional notes

  • Presented at Tate Modern, London, on 26 April 2013 for the opening night of the #HYPERLINK festival.
  • Part of the Vase Curate event curated by Melissa Matos of Trusst.
  • Shown alongside two versions of Shadows of Light and a live set by Arclight.
  • Created with May’s custom Painting With Light software.
  • Format: site-specific live video-mapped installation/performance.
  • Approximate size: 6m x 4m x 3m.
  • Video documentation: Vimeo

Talks, exhibitions, and updates connected to this work.

  • Anna Dumitriu and Alex May: Recent Works at Texas A&M

    Alex May presented work at Texas A&M as part of the collaborative exhibition Anna Dumitriu and Alex May: Recent Works, alongside a lecture and a Painting With Light workshop.

  • University of Hertfordshire Colloquium

    Alex May gave a research colloquium at the University of Hertfordshire on robotics, video mapping, interaction, and the role of code as artistic material.

  • University of Calgary International Visiting Artist

    Alex May presented a solo exhibition of Shadows of Light at the University of Calgary, alongside an artist talk and a Painting With Light video-mapping workshop.

  • Painting With Light workshop at UCLA

    Alex May led a Painting With Light video-mapping workshop at UCLA, introducing students to projection, objects, and spatial experimentation through his custom software.

  • Toy Hack Digital Metropolis

    Alex May worked with Exploring Senses and Phoenix Brighton on a two-day Brighton Digital Festival project where young participants hacked toys, built a cardboard city, made animations, and turned it into a projected digital metropolis.

  • Emergency Index: Volume 3

    Alex May's Painting With Light performance at Tate Modern was featured in Emergency Index: Volume 3, a major publication documenting recent performance practice.

  • Bournemouth University Workshop

    Alex May led a two-day Painting With Light video-mapping workshop at Bournemouth University, where participants used custom software and everyday materials to build new projected environments.

  • Kinetica Art Fair Artist Interview: Alex May

    Aesthetica published an interview with Alex May about Painting With Light, the development of his digital sculpture practice, and his ongoing involvement with Kinetica Art Fair.

  • Music Tech Fest 5th-7th September 2014

    Alex May spoke at Music Tech Fest in London about Painting With Light, his bespoke video-mapping software for artists.