Fade to Black is the generic title for a series of artistic projects that were triggered by Philippe Parreno since 1995. Throughout the course of this project, Parreno has produced various fluorescent silkscreened images which can only be viewed in the dark. They are printed with phosphorescent ink and must first be exposed to light for the image to become visible. This very light, stored within the ink, reveals itself in the dark but slowly fades. The amount of reflected light is limited to its time of exposure to light. A specific time lapse is always associated with the lifespan of the image in the dark.

The most recent iteration of this project, produced specifically for the Martin Gropius Bau exhibition prints this phosphorescent ink onto aluminum mounted canvas, rather than onto a poster, producing a new avenue and direction for this Fade to Black project. Each series of Fade to Black documents an artistic proposal. Each image leaves a visual footprint; they are a testimony to an action, proposal or ephemeral installation by Parreno. These canvases are imprints of never realized works and therefore represent the ghosts that haunt the completed piece that is eventually produced by the artist. These discarded fragments, and proposed ideas function as a tormenting artefact of the process that exists behind every artwork.