Cerith Wyn Evans at the White Cube

Monday 4 January 2016

A long while ago, I posted about a palindromic light sculpture by Cerith Wyn Evans which I'd seen at the Whitechapel Gallery. A shorter while ago, the White Cube put on a show of Evans' work. Eager to see light sculptures (and I'll admit, also partly eager to grab some shots with Ainsley in), we made our way south of the river to Bermondsey take a look. The first thing I noticed was the eerie flute-like noise emanating from an installation of clear pipes, mechanically played - a kind of artificial breathing. Palm trees dotted throughout the room turned, so slowly as to almost be unnoticeable - but enough to be slightly spatially confusing. The light sculptures were huge, dominating the room with ever so slightly flickering brightness, their individual shapes inspired by the movements of Japanese Noh Theatre and Duchamp's The Bride Stripped Bare with Her Bachelors, Even. I remember my attention being caught by a blinking light in the corridor and thinking it was unusual the gallery hadn't fixed it - it turns out it had been reconfigured by Evans to create a text about the movement of the moon in a solar eclipse spelled out in Morse code, which is fascinating! It was quite a mesmerising experience, and somewhere I'd have liked to sit and listen for a while... but sadly no floor-sitting is allowed in the White Cube (trust me, I tried).

FIND THE WHITE CUBE AT: 144-152 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3TQ

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