Spectra by Ryoji Ikeda was a temporary installation organised through that wonderful organisation Artangel and on from dusk till dawn between 4th & 11th August, which I visited on a warm dry night. I could see the beam from my house several miles away while it was on.
Ii was inspired by the words of British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey on the announcement of the First World War a century ago: “the lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime”
49 beams seen through trees before entering Victoria Tower Gardens by the Houses of Parliament. It looked extra-terrestrial from this angle, as if the light was shining down, not up.
Occasional smokiness was due to people holding their exhibition leaflets over the lights as the intense heat could set the paper alight.
The shot above was taken looking up from the middle of the installation.
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