This is architecture that is about the perception of spatial conditions
Below_ Balancing Act by Antón García-Abril & Ensamble Studio
near-physical presence of this wall of sound can create an architectural space was one of the show’s most moving moments.
The fourth of the larger
an atmospheric cloud to hover above your head; a soaring, looping bridge guides you into – and then above – this hot, humid interlayer before returning you, sweating, to the ground. Held in place with improbable- looking rings around existing brick columns, this metallic structure wobbles you in mid-air and is clangingly percussive under the pacing of many feet. Two works use light and sound to stunningly dramatic effect. The artist Olafur Eliasson has simply combined suspended
hoses and strobe lamps to beautifully alter everyday perceptions of the essential elements of water and light. At its most dynamic, the hoses flail about, throwing off jets of liquid, hyper-articulated by dazzling split-second flashes. However, when the hoses hang limp, your hands can childishly interfere with the vertical flow, sending out precious diamond-like arcs that disappear before they hit the ground – a bouncy, black, saturated surface that gives off a wet, rubbery smell.
In a later room, Janet Cardiff has placed 40 inward-facing speakers in an elongated halo, one for each voice in an emotive rendition of Renaissance choral piece Spem in alium by Thomas Tallis. Some visitors wove in and out of the arrangement to interact with the music, but most sat on the benches or even lay on the floor. Many closed their eyes to isolate themselves and feel less self-conscious in response to the composition as it swelled and pulsed around them. Experiencing how the
exhibits, Balancing Act by Antón García-Abril & Ensamble Studio, is an intersection of two giant I-section concrete beams, the upper pivoting on the base, supported by a quivering spring at one end and counterpoised at the other by a large rock. The composition is beguiling however, as knocking on the lower element’s not-cold- enough surface revealed it to be a hollow simulacrum, a stagey installation where the impression of sheer scale supersedes material truth. Placed on the diagonal axis as an interruption to the natural route, the pair of massive props
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