LOCO SOLIS
2005 The Stephen Lawrence Gallery, London
Addressing the complexities of Christopher Wren's and Inigo Jones's sublime architecture into a form that makes us look afresh was the objective for the exhibition. The star shaped form of Loco Solis was taken from the floor designs of the Central Hall of the Queens House; calmly static in its perfection and at the very centre point of Jones's perfect double cube.
We undertook research at The Royal Observatory (telescopes), The Queen’s House (floor pattern) and the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford where we were able to study astrolabes and early instruments of sea navigation. This resulted in the reinterpretation of the geometry located in the Queen’s House being re-imagined in the form of over a thousand hand cut mirror-tiles and transported outside to the external courtyard. The visual pun of plaster (platonic) telescopes through which we could not see, hint at the nearby Royal Observatory and of explorations into worlds we cannot see. The gallery work included print, sculpture, sound and video works and the opening celebration included a commissioned contemporary dance work and a sound work by brook & brook.
'This work steers us towards a new way of seeing the subject and points to aspects of its reality that have little to do with blunt depiction or description. In short the artists challenge us to look again at the site to see it from their shared viewpoint.'
Fergus Muir, Former Head of Architecture, Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
We also undertook a series of workshops for local school students focused on the artwork and the use of mirrors and drawings.
Funding: The Stephen Lawrence Gallery, University of Greenwich and ACE for Architecture Week
Acknowledgments: Kelly O’Reilly who was such a supportive curator for the gallery and our work. Also to McLeans Glass Ltd who supplied us with so much material and Tim Payne Engineering for assisting us with design and construction.
