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Over the last few weeks I've been wondering about the silver geometric shapes on the buildings behind Granary Square in King's Cross. They looked like a silver streak of lightening flashing from the old coal depot in the east, across the granary building and over to the goods sheds on the west side. Then I noticed there was a viewing platform at the end of King's Boulevard so I wandered up that way one day on my way home from work to take a look.
The viewing platform is a wood and scaffolding structure about 20 feet high and as well as giving a panoramic view of the artwork it also gives a bird's eye view across the rest of the King's Cross area. It's amazing how even a slight elevation such as this gives a completely different perspective; the trains coming in and out of the station looked like a toy train set.
But back to the art work. Here's what it said on the information panel:
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'Across the Buildings', a temporary art installation for King's Cross
Paris-based Swiss artist Felice Varini takes King's Cross as his canvas for 'Across the Buildings', a three-dimesnional painting, which mould to the shape of its heritage buildings.
Responding to the King's Cross site and its heritage, Felice Varini has created a dazzling ensemble of geometric forms, which come together as one from the top of this viewing platform. The unified pattern brings together the scattered buildings which belong to the same significant chapter of the King's Cross history. In the 19th century these buildings were functioning as an elaborated transport intrechange where people and goods such as wheat and coal were moved from boat to train to horse-drawn carriages.
Paris-based Swiss artist Felice Varini takes King's Cross as his canvas for 'Across the Buildings', a three-dimesnional painting, which mould to the shape of its heritage buildings.
Responding to the King's Cross site and its heritage, Felice Varini has created a dazzling ensemble of geometric forms, which come together as one from the top of this viewing platform. The unified pattern brings together the scattered buildings which belong to the same significant chapter of the King's Cross history. In the 19th century these buildings were functioning as an elaborated transport intrechange where people and goods such as wheat and coal were moved from boat to train to horse-drawn carriages.
'Across the Buildings' changes according to the time of day and the weather conditions. At times the metalic shapes reflect the grey sky, hollowing out some of the imposing architecture; at others they catch the intense summer sunlight setting off the dark undertones of the surroundings.
As one moves through the site one can fully appreciate how this three-dimensional painting playfully engages with the reality of the urban fabric; once the liberated from the point of perspective the fragments of the painting appear in the cityscape and form their own independent configurations.
Felice Varini (1952) was born in Locarno, Switzerland. He currently lives and works in Paris. Varini describes himself as a painter who intervenes directly onto urban and architectural spaces. His paintings come together at one vantage point, which he considers as the starting point of the work. Varini is concerned with our perception and his paintings exist both as a whole and as 'exploded' fragments.
'Across the Buildings' is a temporary installation commissioned by the King's Cross Central Limited Partnership as part of RELAY, a three-year arts programme curated by Michael Pinsky and Stéphanie Delcroix. 'Across the Buildings' has received the support of Eurostar and the Embassy of Switzerland in the United Kingdom.
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After all that, I'm still not much the wiser as to the way it's been done. The best I can say is that it's some sort of translucent metalic painting fixed across the buildings. There was also no indication as to how long it's going to be there for but I hope to get back and take some more pictures when the light is better.
As one moves through the site one can fully appreciate how this three-dimensional painting playfully engages with the reality of the urban fabric; once the liberated from the point of perspective the fragments of the painting appear in the cityscape and form their own independent configurations.
Felice Varini (1952) was born in Locarno, Switzerland. He currently lives and works in Paris. Varini describes himself as a painter who intervenes directly onto urban and architectural spaces. His paintings come together at one vantage point, which he considers as the starting point of the work. Varini is concerned with our perception and his paintings exist both as a whole and as 'exploded' fragments.
'Across the Buildings' is a temporary installation commissioned by the King's Cross Central Limited Partnership as part of RELAY, a three-year arts programme curated by Michael Pinsky and Stéphanie Delcroix. 'Across the Buildings' has received the support of Eurostar and the Embassy of Switzerland in the United Kingdom.
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After all that, I'm still not much the wiser as to the way it's been done. The best I can say is that it's some sort of translucent metalic painting fixed across the buildings. There was also no indication as to how long it's going to be there for but I hope to get back and take some more pictures when the light is better.
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