Oliver Beer: Albion Waves

9 Feb-15 Jul 2023

Overview

Albion Waves by Oliver Beer is an immersive installation, inspired by the cultural and social changes in Britain’s material history and its ever-changing position across the globe.

Located on the ground floor of the London Mithraeum, Bloomberg SPACE showcases a series of contemporary art commissions responding, and bringing fresh perspectives, to the site’s rich archaeological history.

Our latest commission is Albion Waves by British artist Oliver Beer.

Beer’s new installation Albion Waves, draws inspiration from the 14,000 Roman artefacts discovered on the Bloomberg site, and features a constellation of 28 suspended historic British vessels. Dating from the second century to the present day, each vessel varies in colour, form, size, and origin, and contains a microphone to amplify its acoustic resonance. Triggered when motion sensors detect the movement of visitors, the installation can be played by the viewer, their interactions evolving into a unique immersive musical experience.

To accompany the sound installation, Beer has created ‘Resonance Paintings’ using sound waves generated by the suspended vessels to move finely ground pigment into geometric patterns across canvas.

Beer unifies the installation’s elements by bathing the space with blue light to create a captivating and immersive installation of sound, light and colour, providing a unique and innovative way for visitors to connect with the cultural and social evolution of Britain’s object making across the centuries.

“Just like a sea shell or a wine glass, every vessel that’s ever been made in the history of object making is also constantly quietly resonating at its own unchanging musical note, determined by its form. Albion Waves is an acoustic portrait of Britain over the past 2000 years – and a way to listen to, as well as see, successive waves of cultural influences in our material history.” Oliver Beer

Artists