- Venue
- Fortnum & Mason
- Starts
- Saturday, September 14, 2019
- Ends
- Friday, October 25, 2019
- Address
- 181 Piccadilly St James's London W1A 1ER
- Location
- London
- Organiser
- London Design Festival
Iri-Descent consists of 150 skeleton-framework cubes that descend through the space clad with highly reflective and luminous dichroic film in two differing colour-ways which mirrors and sheds light on its surrounds. The cubes appear to change colour as visitors move around the atrium and between the floors. There are two colour variations which systematically alternate throughout – warm and cool – offering a diverse range of hues. The choice of material embodies West’s interest in the relationship between colour and light and their ability to enhance the viewers perception of the work.
Iri-Descentforms part of an ongoing series of spatial light works based upon research into colour theory and light fields with an ambition to transform architectural spaces and public environments. West works across a variety of media, mixing luminous colour and radiant light in a provocation of sensory reactions. With Iri-Descent, she wants to encourage visitors to engage with the space in a new way, and to examine their own personal relationship to colour and light.
Liz West said: “This has been a particularly joyful commission to work on due to the passion, knowledge and commitment of everyone involved. I have spent a lot of time visiting, watching how people move around the store and thinking about what the space needs, as well as having insightful in-depth conversations with the historian and archivist at Fortnums to inspire the work. I have also delighted in testing and playing with delicious materials to ignite the space and people’s imaginations and perceptions.”
Zia Zareem-Slade, Customer Experience Director, Fortnum & Mason said, “Fortnum & Mason is no mere shop, but is an immersive destination, sensorial experience, and place of wonder and joy. Throughout every floor there is a visual feast and an explosion of colour – and so with that in mind, we’re delighted to be teaming up with Liz West to present ‘Iri-Descent’. A piece that creates curiosity, captures joy and plays with light and sparkle in such a beautiful way, we’re excited to see in our atrium and to share it with our customers”.
Iri-Descent was commissioned by London Design Festival. Supported by Fortnum & Mason.
Photographs © Andy Stagg
