Tuesday 2 December 2014

BEACH HUT 227


The photographs on this blog can't do justice to the beauty of hut 227 this evening.  This is mainly because it is difficult to photograph an installation which is made almost exclusively of light, especially when that light is subtly moving and re-forming in endless random patterns and designs.








The installation was created by Lucy Lauener who is a member of the congregation at St. Luke's Prestonville, close to Seven Dials.


This is a variation of a piece that she has created for the church entitled 'Advent Light' which was premiered on Advent Sunday and will be on show in the church through to the end of the Christmas season.

The inspiration for the art came from the carol 'Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning' with it's description of the light dawning on the darkness and the star guiding the Magi to Bethlehem.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning;
Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

The second verse introduces us to Jesus in the manger and a vision of the stable:

Cold on His cradle the dewdrops are shining;
Low lies His head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore Him in slumber reclining,
Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!

The artwork consists of a giant mirrored cylinder which is backed with opaque polythene which forms a translucent screen for all manner of projections and light effects.  In the hut tonight the light was provided by an invention of the artist Chris Levene - the Laserpod.




At the base of the circle shape created by the mirrors, was a tiny glass nativity scene, so small that it was hardly noticeable unless you got really close to the hut.  The whole effect was very moving as the sky was filled with the glorious light, beaming down on the tiny frail representation of God become man.










The next hut is number 11, right down by Hove Lawns and the most Easterly of all the huts in the calendar this year.