When you walk into the Tenderpixel Gallery in London’s Cecil Court, in addition to the the floating light-creature to your left, the first thing you’ll likely notice is how small it is. It’s a box. And in this box they’re currently exhibiting the reactive light installation Scapes by UK-based media art group Squidsoup. In the darkened room, the floating fluctuating tendrils look like both a hanging light forest and a shifting futuristic cityscape. You can hear the ambient experimental sounds of Norwegian musician Alexander Rishaug—supplying this orchestra of twinkling spires with an ambient soundtrack. The light patterns a reaction to the abstractions of the music, making the whole thing a mesmerizing and soothing experience.
The curator, Lisa Slominski, has been sitting in a room with the piece 6 days a week causing, she says, her emails to become somewhat groovier. “[Squidsoup] did a similar piece at last year’s Kinetica Art Fair and that’s where we came across their work. We thought it was really great.”
“The way it works is there are 5 different soundscapes” she explained. “Each of them lasting about 5 minutes. The sound is making the reactions of the different landscapes. Each of the 5 soundscapes have a different feel—some of them are more from top to bottom, some of them are more architectural, some of them are more spherical. And on top of that, it’s interactive. You have to be quite abrupt, but a loud noise will cause, say, a building to shoot up or the lights to go brighter.” Which was amply demonstrated with a shout, causing an illuminated light-scraper to appear, radiating from the center.
Walking around the two sides of this cubic site-specific structure, you get different views from different angles, with the black see-through fabric that confines the piece blurring your vision, adding to the otherworldly effect. “That’s what they call an underwater effect,” explains Slominski. “Also they do this mirroring thing like when you look at it from one angle, it’s really hard to tell where it starts and stops. The mirroring of the LEDs, coming from the sound design, creates a really interesting depth.”
To find out more you can read our Q&A about the piece with Anthony Rowe from Squidsoup .
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