Castle in the Air is a written painting and a work within the ongoing series of monumental paintings titled Allegory. Originally written in 1995, the text is generative and is set out here as a protocol: instructions under which it may be printed on canvas panels or clear acrylic, or projected onto a wall, while its words, spacing, shape and scale remain fixed.

Castle in the Air, 1995 / 2026

Anne-Brigitte Sirois

Twelve tall white panels hung side by side along a gallery wall, each carrying a section of the text in black, centered lines.
Protocol

Castle in the Air: Protocol

Anne-Brigitte Sirois
2026

On a surface, the complete text in its order, in Helvetica Light, the typeface of the 1995 pages. Each line centered, so that the long and short lines together draw the shape of the text. Every word, line break and interval between stanzas as written. The text may be divided among several surfaces, only between stanzas; the surfaces hang 2 in apart. The spacing grows with the type and is never adjusted to fill the surface.

Anyone may apply to execute the work. Each execution is made once approved by the artist.

Elevation drawing: a 16 ft wall with a 39 by 132 inch projection field 24 inches below the ceiling and 36 inches above the floor, and an 11 inch square plaque centered 68 inches above the floor, 18 inches to the left of the field.
Elevation, projection with plaque.

Realizations

The images accompanying each realization serve as references for its light and presentation.

Twelve-Panel Installation

The work is conceived as twelve vertical white canvas panels, each measuring approximately 132 × 39 inches. Arranged in a continuous sequence along a white gallery wall, with two-inch intervals between panels, the installation extends approximately 41 feet. The text is painted in black or charcoal grey, preserving its original line breaks, stanza divisions, and spatial intervals. Illuminated evenly from above, the successive panels form a single architectural composition in which passages of text and expansive fields of white space establish a shifting visual rhythm.

Projected Installation

The projection is presented against a warm-white wall in a gallery with subdued ambient lighting, without complete darkness. Within a vertical field measuring 39 × 132 inches, positioned 36 inches above the floor, successive passages of luminous white text ascend slowly, each pausing momentarily before continuing upward. A soft vertical wash of light follows the central axis of the projection, whose edges dissolve into the surrounding wall, allowing the text to emerge and recede within the architectural space.

A dim gallery wall with part of the text projected in white light from above, and a small square plaque hung to the left.
Projection with plaque

Specifications

Wall
Smooth, matte or very low sheen, soft warm white, free of interruptions. Generous empty wall to the left of the plaque and to the right of the field. Preferred ceiling height 16 ft.
Room
Softly lit, as a museum gallery. Warm-neutral light, no amber cast, no harsh shadows. A matte, neutral floor with little reflection.
Field
39 × 132 in, fixed. Top 24 in below the ceiling, bottom 36 in above the floor. More space below than above: the text enters from below.
Surface
A projection coating applied to the wall within the field: diffuse, low sheen, no sparkle. With the projector on, the limits of the field are not perceptible: no border, no grey slab, no screen.
Light
A soft vertical wash centered on the axis of the field, extending above and below the text and fading into the wall. Never a spotlight; always quieter than the letters.
Text
The artist’s master file, used directly. Wording, spelling, line breaks, stanza shapes and the spaces between passages as supplied; never reset or reflowed. Letters luminous white to warm ivory, softer than digital white, slightly soft at the edges.
Motion
The text rises slowly through the field at the pace of an attentive reading, never like credits, a teleprompter or signage. Passages may slow or pause; intervals of visual silence are welcome. Final timing approved by the artist at full scale.
Plaque
Clear acrylic, 11 × 11 in, flush to the wall, no visible hardware. The two-column artwork scaled proportionally, never reflowed; text in soft charcoal grey. Center 68 in above the floor; 18 in clear between its right edge and the left edge of the field.
Testing
Before final calibration, a full-scale test of coating, wall color, ambient light, projector brightness, white value, focus, field edges, light wash, speed, pauses, plaque grey and legibility, approved by the artist.

Clear Acrylic Panel Installation

The installation is conceived as a sequence of vertical panels of optically clear cast acrylic, each measuring 132 × 39 inches, precision-cut with polished edges. The text is printed in black or deep charcoal grey directly onto the reverse surface of each panel, preserving its original line breaks, stanza divisions, and spatial intervals. Mounted three-quarters of an inch to one inch in front of a white gallery wall with minimally visible satin-finish metal fittings at the corners, the panels follow one another in a continuous sequence with two-inch intervals. Each panel is lit softly from above along its central axis, the light falling through the centered text toward the floor rather than spreading evenly across the surface, as in the projection image above. The light gives the text a gentle physical presence in the room, while the acrylic keeps its transparency and soft reflections, so that the lines of text appear suspended before the wall. The plaque may be placed at the start of the sequence.

A row of tall clear acrylic panels mounted on a white gallery wall with small corner fittings, each carrying a section of the text in black, centered lines.
Clear acrylic panels

Plaque

The opening of the text, from “Sometimes I wonder” to “all in one,” may be set in two columns on a small square plaque at the start of the work, the text then continuing from “Close your eyes”; or it may be displayed like the rest of the text. With the projection, the plaque is clear acrylic, 11 × 11 in, flush to the wall, its center 68 in above the floor, 18 in to the left of the field; the text in soft charcoal grey.

A square clear acrylic plaque flush on a warm white wall, carrying the opening of the text in two centered columns, from “Sometimes I wonder” to “all in one.”
The plaque, clear acrylic, flush to the wall.
Medium
Text; paint, ink or light on canvas, acrylic or wall

Certificate of authorization

This certificate, signed by the artist, authorizes one realization of Castle in the Air according to the protocol above. A realization is authentic only when made according to this protocol and approved in writing by the artist. The certificate is not transferable without the artist’s written consent.

Realization

Authorized party (name of applicant or institution)
Realization (twelve-panel, projected or acrylic)
Venue (city, state or province, country)
Dates of exhibition

Artist

Signature
Anne-Brigitte SiroisPrinted name
Date
Place of signing (city, state or province, country)

Witness

Signature
Printed name
Date
The text
Sometimes I wonder how many beings have seen their horizon rise up to disappear away from sight. How many have gone deep under to experience the inhibiting effect of liquid penetrating the senses. How long can one survive lacking oxygen, lacking sunlight lacking all that is wanted the profound effect on one’s mind this can incur How long how far how deep under The lack of air the bitter taste the heightening pressure everything far from reason on the edge of unconsciousness awakened by the beauty of an idea. A mere idea multidimensional, multifaceted vivid never at rest, never at ease in a constant state of permutation evolving towards what it is short lived, intense and yet never ceasing sensual, rhythmical conceptual A white conceit so seductive in its insubstantiality its beauty lies in its inexistence self-fecundating, self generating and yet eternally unborn, hollow consumingly obliterating and self-possessed with momentum thirsty for the unimpeachable climax the irresistible canter towards totality One in all all in one Close your eyes This image I have in my mind exists somewhere in the fluid surreal reality of my memory it belongs to a different dimension it stems from the experience of life i suppose it expresses a particular state of mind something that breaths and moves although it is not as you and I, it is like all things yet unlike anything a fast sketch running away, breaking away racing towards the other side unable to see or touch or verify its existence intangible is the sight the initial intuition astonishing creatures powerful, god-like beings sparkling at a mere reflection beauty such which brings about chaos and vice-versa on a wet ground they climax to the point of no return paradoxically it connects with matter in actual process from one dimension to another confined to the face of superficiality a stone in appearance in appearance it begins with a fast sketch more like a battle than a drawing a large brush is heavily dipped in diluted black liquid it is done in a few seconds I go over with charcoal imposing new lines over the undetermined dust is all over I wonder if I ought to stop and leave the chaos in its state of incompleteness where creativity lies a pre-existent image of raw material instinctual, “underworldly” whole I wait imagine different alternatives the splashes, the drips, the lines the gray the frustration of being bound to matter white is the image compelling and unattainable merely reproduced in shadow-bound vision a large brush is heavily dipped in diluted black paint over and over the shapes are defined the contortions, the multiple scars, the broken bones of materialization from one dimension to another confined to the face of superficiality in suffocation stifled an enslaved race such as in the middle-ages and always barbaric, regenerating relics multiplying with one another in doomed immolation hollowed dumb creatures with wounded pride and broken bones calling for actualization a concept in reality with a life of its own awaiting the ultimate experience of creation on a canvas or some other surface rejects among rejects fearing and untrusting by necessity endless escapists trying to recapture that which cannot be seen nor touched if only I could remember if only I could see this image in your mind exists somewhere in the fluid surreal reality of your memory it belongs to a different dimension it expresses a particular state of mind something that breaths and moves running away, breaking away round and round and round in some place exists a unanimous race one in all, all in one constrained to a state of pre-existence more real than reality in constant orbit around being somewhere sometime in roaring water ravaging winds and collapsing grounds together they dipped far from reason in a journey underwater and underground where all is altered and unrealized ridden of consciousness almost free whole in darkness below lost and submerged in “unexposable” shame a race that breaths and moves such as in the middle-ages and always descending the valleys of decadence rising and falling barbaric and impulsive relics bound to gravity and attempting to recapture that which cannot be explained nor touched rise and fall rise and fall eternal in its moment if only I could remember the undescribable sensation of body and soul in harmony a radiant image with endless space and unrestricted freedom at the speed of a canter unbridled an escape from being near the edge of no return the image so seductive more beautiful than life growing from within sensual, rhythmical vivid an illusion of such intensity obliterating all rational order blissul “frenzyful” primeval fatal a great escapade from the effect of suffocation the key to the immaterial world compelling and impetuous unfading quixotic a protean fixation focused on singularity uplifting toward the elevated state permitting the exalting experience of euphoria concentric from one dimension to another the initial sketch is done in seconds the face of the Image that precedes itself seen through the reflection of materialization white black and a golden pigment the framed image of unrestricted freedom bruised and flawed by the inevitable metamorphose of materialization in a state of perdition and diminished in dimension they have lost their path moaning impressively in praise of revivification round and round over and over and over shipwrecked in darkness bellow they attempt greater stride, higher grounds unable to see or touch or verify lost and abandoned and separated from the unanimous whole near the edge of unconsciousness awaiting the ultimate experience the ultimate experience deep under around and below white on a canvas or some other surface with pigments and a binder a mere reflection of reality and vice-versa forward and up faster and higher with growing momentum toward the speed of light energized exorcised almost free high I can almost see almost feel almost remember the very definition of existence in formation colors such no human can see filled with life and lit from within shiny and bright white higher and higher faster and closer lighter and brighter near upon undescribable is the sensation a moment which should last forever arising toward the infinite light high spirited and impassioned vivified forward from sparkle to flame from flame to sunshine eternal and infinite castle in the air castle in the air *.
The artist seated in front of a monumental Allegory painting of horses in dark tones.
An Allegory painting: pale horses twisting and rearing out of a dark ground, their forms half-emerged from the paint.
A square painting of a rearing horse drawn in loose black lines over an ochre and grey ground, with the words Le bal des vivants stencilled faintly along the bottom.
A large painting of white horses surging through splashing water, in pale whites, greys and violets.