As part of the month long Precision & Poetry in Motion exhibition, design agency Barber Osgerby developed a system of two giant mirrored aeronautical 'wings,' which were suspended in the room and would slowly rotate on motors, altering the reflections of the Raphael Cartoons as they did. To light the artworks, she used 16 ETC Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr fixtures, controlled by an ETC Ion control desk.
"We were asked to provide a lighting strategy and design for the room and of the sculpture to reveal the Barber Osgerby sculpture in its best light," says Song. "We also had to pay careful consideration to providing appropriate light sources and light levels for priceless art pieces, which are on loan from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II."
The sculpture's wings were clad with a highly polished mirror finish. Song says that the best lit effect was to light the elements surrounding it, rather than lighting the piece itself - but since the floating objects occupied most of the view to the ceiling, the existing high level lights for the artworks would be blocked periodically, making them unsuitable for this installation.
Seam Design's proposal therefore involved a completely new system for lighting the room, using striking illumination to the Raphael Cartoons and a dramatic wash to the floor. The Cartoons are then reflected on the wings above them, so that they can be seen by the people standing underneath.
"Through its slow rotations," describes Song, "the sculpture is disorientating and mesmerising, emerging from high level in an uncanny way. The dramatic light enhances these experiences."
Seam worked closely with ETC and Hawthorns, who installed the lighting and helped to programme the colour tuning and settings. The fixtures were set to a very warm 2600ยบ colour temperature - the colour of candlelight - helping the Cartoons appear almost like tapestries as they may have looked in the 16th Century.
Attending the launch event, ETC's regional manager for the UK and Ireland, Mark White, was asked a number of times if the lighting on the cartoons was really LED and not tungsten. "LEDs are usually associated with the blue-white cold light fitted these days to bathrooms and the like," he says, "so to see apparent candlelight coming from the Source Four LEDs was an eye-opener."
"ETC and Hawthorns were very responsive, particularly on a fast track install of two weeks with schedules changing day to day as we were getting near the opening," concludes Song. "They were amazing teams to work with. And we heard that the museum likes it so much that there was talk to make the fixtures part of a permanent installation for the gallery."
The Double Space for BMW - Precision & Poetry in Motion exhibition is on display at London's Victoria & Albert Museum until 24 October 2014.
(Jim Evans)
