This is the second winter now for a new light artwork installation to take place at Southbank, named "Winter Light" in an attempt to copy the success of the light installations at Canary Wharf to bring more people to the location during the winter darkness. This winter, there seem to be fewer artworks, but I headed down to have a look.
Jakob Kvist: Dichroic Sphere
This light sculpture uses multi-faceted semi-transparent coloured panels that encourage the viewer to interact with the artwork through the different shapes and colours created by the illumination.
Lis Rhodes: Dresden Dynamo
This art installation is projected onto the side of the building, and it dates from 1979. It represents the relationship between sound and light, although the sound was not working. The stills were coloured geometric shapes that moved in different motions.
David Batchelor: Sixty Minute Spectrum
Over the course of an hour, the colours change along the rooftops of the buildings at Southbank, gradually changing from red to orange to yellow and completing the colour spectrum in that hour. This light installation has been a part of Southbank for a few years now and was showcased in the installation trail last year too.
Anne Roininen: Car Show
This installation is dotted in two different areas of Southbank with four cars to see. The cars have the appearance of being run down and abandoned and are fit with coloured lights inside to make them glow. The installation focuses on these vehicles as they are seen as a luxury item but contribute to environmental and health issues. The relationship between machines and humans are a part of the theme of this work.
Zarah Hussain: Submission and Breath and Aath
The artwork under the bridge appeared last year, and additional artworks (though not illuminated) appeared this year. The artwork uses patterns with traditions in Islamic art.
Teemu Määttänen: Noste
These light columns appear on the balcony of the building at South Bank, and they were part of the installation last year but were not working. The word "noste" means "to lift". The colours of light pulsate and lift up the columns.
Tim Noble and Sue Webster: Forever
This is one of the first light sculptures created by the artists, and the word contains its own meaning. The neon sign has a vintage feeling to it, which adds additional meaning to suggest the word "forever" with using feelings of the past to convey the word.
Oskar Fischinger: Radio Dynamics
This video is projected onto the side of the building, and it dates from 1942. It is an abstract film with different patterns of colour and graphic that move. He helped to influence Disney's 'Fantasia', and his work was distributed worldwide. The film studies colour and rhythm, and it does not need the use of sound.
David Ogle: Loomin
This installation was launched along Southbank in 2020 and was part of the installation trail last year. It uses the natural trees along the Thames to illuminate them, and they take on different forms in neon light. This transforms the public space.
Southbank's Winter Light is free to view until 9 January. Previous posts about Southbank's Winter Light installation can be seen below:
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