Under the bridge

The artwork has been created for Indian lighting company Havells-Sylvania and the South Bank and aims to create an architecturally lit creative space.

The consultancy certainly had a big task. Southbank Centre artistic director Jude Kelly says, ‘On this site we have a really rich array of buildings and spaces… And then there are some really quite grotty areas – and we’ve given Jason Bruges one of these spaces.’

Bruges describes the space as ‘really interesting… dark and underloved, there’s trains rolling above it. We thought, what a wonderful opportunity to make a luminokinetic piece.’

Using a series of Havells-Sylvania products, Bruges has created a ‘kit of parts’ which can be installed in the space to create a dynamic installation which can change over the year.

The piece is inspired by Lázló Moholy-Nagy’s Light Prop for an Electric Stage, created in 1930, a kinetic sculpture made from shifting perforated discs, that cast ever-changing light and colour patterns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVnF9A3azSA

Bruges says, ‘Fully interactive, our installation explores not just the relationship between space and light but also people’s behaviour within a space. It introduces a performative process in which the installation engages with the audience, transforming the space with lighting based on how people respond to it.’

21^st Century Light Modulator will be in place underneath Hungerford Bridge on London’s Southbank until 12 July.