Hymn to the Big Wheel
Installation (steel, PVC vinyl and polycarbonate)
480cm (L) x 480 (W) x 300cm (H)
2021
Hymn to the Big Wheel is an immersive sculptural work exploring the illusion and physicality of colour and natural light in space. Consisting of a multi-coloured octagon nestled within a larger octagonal shape, this work encourages the viewer to reposition and align themselves to differing colour-ways to see a changing scope of colours mixing before their eyes.
Constructed using transparent coloured sheets, the work prompts the playful movement of visitors to explore the work in context with their surroundings. This saturate installation is an energising beacon of colour that radiates across the space it inhabits, creating an intriguing interplay of coloured shadows for people to discover. The viewer becomes performer within the work as they move around the inside and outside of the structure to explore the changing optics and colour-ways mixing within the installation. The jewel-like colours create diverse mixes and blends when viewed from different angles from around the installation, as well as producing a sundial effect by casting multi-coloured shadows on the asphalt.
Hymn to the Big Wheel was originally commissioned by Canary Wharf Group for Summer Lights 2021 and shown at Ushaw Historic House & Gardens for Lumiere Durham 2021.
Photography © Sean Pollock Photography + Matthew Andrews