The Light Show, Hayward Gallery, London
I visited the Light Show at the Hayward Gallery back in March (I meant to write about it, apologies) The premise appealed to me: I have never been to an exhibition which was composed entirely of light works, and I was curious. It was a hotly tipped show, so I tried to avoid the inevitable early reviews in the press. I try to make the effort to not read other people’s opinions of shows until after I have seen them myself, so that I can make my own mind up and form an unbiased account of them first. After I’ve done that, then it can be fun to compare different viewpoints on the exhibition in question.
Fast forward two months, and I saw that NY arts blog Hyperallergic waxed poetical about the immersive effect of the Hayward show. You can read their review here.
Immersion
Personally I found the Light Show a physically demanding experience. It is a difficult exhibition: there is little respite from the assault on the senses that comes from neon/undulating/flickering (delete as appropriate) pieces. The spectacular, and possibly infamous, Olafur Eliasson Model for a Timeless Garden translates well to film and may give you some idea of the viewing experience…
*Warning this video contains flashing lights*
The effects of such relentless retinal trickery can be jarring, although the sheer number of works on display sometimes detracts from the impact of the individual pieces. There are of course standout moments, although I thought that Hyperallergic’s description made an important point. The exhibition is immersive, completely and utterly. The Hayward succeeds in this largely due to the vast quantity of light works sharing the space. With fewer works, the focus would be on the individual pieces which in turn would alter the effect. They would become objects to look at, and light works do so much more than exist to merely be looked at, they are experiential. If an exhibition is easy can it really be experiential?
Salome's Labrinth 