- Venue
- The Wapping Project
- Location
- London
Turning The Season
I read somewhere that The Wapping Project has been voted as one of the 100 ‘coolest brands in Britain’ for four years in a row. Sceptical as I am about such labels, I find I have to agree with whoever spun it because what I encounter within the grounds and building of Wapping hydraulic power station is true food for the creative soul.
The Wapping Project’s current show is a witty take on the very serious British tradition of The Season. Turning the Season melds dance, writing, photography, theater, design and art to create a multi-disciplinary show that, however disparate in media, comes together beautifully and rather seamlessly.
I had imagined before I arrived that Untold, the series of photographs by fashion photographer thomas zanon-larcher, would take centre stage. Directed by Wapping Project founder and director Jules Wright, the series depicts the break-up of a relationship against the backdrop of events such as Goodwood or Royal Ascot. Some of the most effective shots from this series were of Hannah Shaw wearing Yves Saint Laurent’s chartreuse satin cocktail dress (as featured in December’s Vogue), whirling about like some latter-day Alice in a fairground teacup. The photographs are displayed throughout the building, within the main hall and the Boiler House – which is carpeted in astro turf (by architects Shed54) – with deck chairs and cushions from where visitors can regard and consider the unfolding photographic narrative and also enjoy performances of Ride, Luca Silvestrini’s witty dance duet created in response to The Season.
The photos played large in the show, but other work was equally punchy – just inside the courtyard gate, a piece called Birdy – 100 bird houses designed by members of the ECAL design school – added a fairytale element to the place, while Eilis O’Connell’s beautiful streamlined sculpture WINGBLADE, fresh from Goodwood Sculpture Park captures elements of flight, like a bird or a plane wing, a sycamore seed pod or a giant fish fin. Nearby films of a running herd of horses and a rider putting a gorgeous Lippizaner horse through its paces – Piaffe and Passage.
By the front door is a metal sculpture of undulating forms by Fredrikson Stallard, commissioned by sponsors of the season and, indeed of this project, Veuve Clicquot. And in the midst of all this, a small greenhouse plays shop, selling a range of delicious art, garden, cook and children’s books.
The launch of Turning the Season fell on November 19th, a date which it turns out is highly auspicious in this year’s Buddhist lunar calendar, and one on which Buddhists traditionally make offerings of candles. This transpired to be a purely synchronicitous coincidence for Diane Howse’s beautiful, lyrical work, a lily pond on the rooftop. On this picturesque bend of the Thames and overlooking the rooftops of London, Howse has created a place for reflection – both literally in the surface texture of the water, and metaphorically. Scores of waterlilies have been planted in the 15 metre long former water tank, however, it being November, no sign of actual flora is to be seen. Instead, Howse has created 108 (a number with ancient mystical significance) origami lotus blossoms from waxed paper, each with a tiny light inside. (In the spirit of the significant date, Private View guests were invited to lower these into the pool individually after making a wish or a blessing.) The origami lilies bobbed gently on the water and drifted in and out of random formations around the tank, guided by the breeze. It is said that wishes will multiply when made on this date, and the dimensions of Howse’s work were themselves further multiplied by the juxtaposition of a green-lit lightbox (which literally turned the night sky purple) depicting Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem Nothing Will Die. Howse’s work provides a poignant climax to this beautifully choreographed show in spectacular surroundings.
Turning the Season is at The Wapping Project from 20 November 2008 to 28 February 2009.