design – Later Than You Think

Canary Wharf’s Winter Lights Festival has become a firm fixture in the post-festive calendars of many Londoners – providing as it does a welcome opportunity to wrap up against the cold and enjoy a rare dose of the outdoors in these dark deep winter days.

Twenty-six installations are spread over the (current) entirety of the Wharf, mostly outdoors (a few are inside shopping malls). Some are limited to a visual spectacle while others are more interactive. Most works make innovative use of the architectural and developed natural landscapes of the Wharf’s estate, sometimes in ways that utilise existing features– as with Neon Tree and Light Bench in Canada Square Park, and Liquid Sound (by Entertainment Effects) (with colour and soundtrack) in Cabot Square – providing a lively backdrop for Old Flo. In other instances installations can seem (deliberately I suspect) at odds with the immediate environment – the web of globes of Affinity (by Amigo and Amigo and SITU2) in Montgomery Square appear to have landed from another world and are a good introduction to the immersive nature of many of the exhibits.

There is no overall theme for the 2020 Lights – some such as Lactolight (by Lactolight) at Westferry Circus incorporating 7,000+ recycled milk bottles and with an aim to raise awareness of single use plastic do reference the 2019 emphasis on sustainability – but if anything this year’s diversity of topic makes a welcome change and enhances the experience. Several works are permanent residents in the Wharf – these include Lightbench (by LBO Lightbank) in Canada Square and BIT.FALL (by Julius Popp) at Chancellors Passage. Others such as Sasha Trees (by Adam Decolight) are repeat ‘visitors’ in a new location this year at Bank Street Park.

Now in its sixth year -,and as winners of [d]arc awards (https://darcawards.com/) for the 2017 and 2019 Festivals – the ‘Lights’ increasingly has a reputation to both live up to, and surpass. While not quite in the league of the breakout year of 2017, the 2020 Lights does not disappoint and for me three works particularly stand out in a strong field.

The Clew (by Ottotto), literally circling the bridge at Cubitt Steps, is a stunning vision, combining as it does encirclement of the bridge, the opportunity to travel through the installation, and mesmerising reflections from a range of viewpoints, offering a new perspective on the Wharf itself. A must-visit for photographers!

The Clew – Cubitt Steps

Absorbed by Light (by Gali May Lucas) at Cabot Square is an arresting sight. Three ghostly seated figures each obviously absorbed, and illuminated by, the light from their mobiles. A thought-provoking work making clever use of place, activity and light – literally reflecting our own lives back to us.

Detail from Absorbed by Light – Cabot Square

Squiggle (by Angus Muir Design) is one of the larger scale works and makes excellent use of the space, in Jubilee Park, appearing to flow with the flora. When viewed from the side in a slightly surreal twist it is also (to me at least) somewhat reminiscent of the cover for Joy Division’s ‘Unknown Pleasures’.

Squiggle – Jubilee Park

With extended opening hours for this year the Winter Lights Festival ends on Saturday 25^th January. As ever get there if you can!

All images and text © Later Than You Think 2020

Marking the centenary of the arrival of Jazz in Britain, Rhythm and Reaction offers an eclectic overview of the effect on British society, of this most controversial of musical genres. In particular social and cultural effects and the extent to which the very existence and evolution of Jazz, was driven in no small part by the technological developments of the day.

Jazz is a visual music and lends itself to display, yet this remains a largely neglected area for UK galleries. And the few exhibitions with Jazz as a theme have tended to focus on a single aspect.1 The remit of the 2018 exhibition at Two Temple Place is considerably wider and consequently much more ambitious.

The exhibition space is intuitively curated with the ground floor room devoted to pre- and early-jazz, and the first floor concentrating on the music of British and American dance bands in the 1920s and 30s. The chronological context is supplemented by a number of sub-themes including; art and design, dance, race, technology, and transport. If I have a criticism it is that each sub ‘theme’ felt like a tantalising taster and some could have been an exhibition in their own right.

Brightest London and Home by Underground 1924, © TfL
The expansion of public transport in the interwar years (in particular the London underground) enabled wider access to some of Britain’s existing clubs and newly built dancehalls, in which dance itself was radically changed by the arrival of Jazz – colourfully illustrated here through costume, sculpture and iconic London Transport marketing posters of the era. Improvements in recording technology and radio also increased the accessibility of Jazz beyond those able to enjoy live music, while artists from the conventional to the surreal embraced the genre.

Dancing, M Hartley 1929

Many of these ‘developments’ are represented in the objects on display (sourced from a wide range of lenders including major galleries, the National Jazz Archive and private collections, some of which may be displayed for the first time). These include early examples of; the gramophone, 78rpm records, the radio – and the modern drum ‘kit’ and saxophone, both of which were essential for the Jazz ‘sound’.

Console Drum Kit c.1938 Tenor sax c 1938

Jazz has long been associated with subversion. And in this context Rhythm and Reaction reflects on its role in developing a sense of freedom for some (especially the young) while simultaneously threatening the establishment, at a time when existing social norms had inevitably been disrupted by war. It also acknowledges the extent to which the development of Jazz in Britain was influenced by attitudes to race, and for a period of time, – the implicit operation of dual culture – within which Jazz was ‘sanitised’ into dance music for (among others) the BBC, while African American Jazz thrived in ‘underground’ clubs.

Detail from the Breakdown, J B Souter, 1926
Rhythm and Reaction is likely to have a wide appeal encompassing as it does social and cultural history, the development of popular music and leisure, and art and design. However I am often struck by the extent to which Jazz is one of the most contested of musical genres. What is loved by one enthusiast can be detested by another, and vice-versa, and debates on what even constitutes ‘Jazz’ can be some of the fiercest amongst fans. I suspect purists may wonder (as I overheard a murmur) ‘but what have ceramics to do with Jazz?’ (or similar).

Detail from Royal Winton Jazz Coffee set. (Private collection)

But this is to miss the point. The strength of Rhythm and Reaction is precisely in this breadth of approach. That the influence of Jazz was so pervasive – as well as producing an iconography that gave its name to an entire ‘age’ – only serves to underline its potential for both freedom and subversion. Rhythm and Reaction captures this well, and I suspect Two Temple Place has a major hit on its hands.
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About Two Temple Place
For those new to it, Two Temple Place will be a delight. Completed in 1895 (by John Loughborough Pearson) as the estate office for William Waldorf Astor, the building and in particular it’s interior, is a stunning exhibit in its own right. Highlights include substantial wood panelling, carving and stained glass windows.
Visiting Rhythm and Reaction provides a rare opportunity to enjoy this building which closed to the public for most of the year). Since 2011 Two Temple Place has been London’s first exhibition space dedicated to raising national awareness of collections around the UK in collaboration with regional partners, and has treated us to everything from William Morris to Sussex Modernism.

1 A recent example being the Fashion and Textile Museum’s 2016-17 exhibition ‘The 1920’s Jazz Age – Fashion and Photographs’.

Further Information
Dates: now – until 22nd April 2018

Times: daily 10-4.30 EXCEPT:

• Closed on Tuesdays
• opens at 11am on Sundays
• closes at 9pm on Wednesdays

Travel: Temple tube station (Circle and District lines) less than 5 minutes walk

Two Temple Place
https://twotempleplace.org/exhibitions/rhythm-and-reaction/