UNITY @ Watermans

February 18, 2012 by africanartinlondon 1 Comment

UNITY - One Room Shack (2012)

Opening next weekend at Watermans is UNITY, an interactive installation celebrating the ‘Olympic spirit’ by Nigerian artists Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi and Emeka Ogboh, aka One Room Shack collective. Commissioned as part of the ongoing International Festival of Digital Art, the work invites viewers to find their way through a maze-like structure made up of the letters of the word ‘unity’. Each letter is wired with LED lights of a different colour, representing the Olympic rings, and lights up in response to the audience’s movements. It’s a fun way to address the big ideas of universalism, global fraternity and interdependence that underpin the Olympics, and also inform the artists’ work more widely.

There’s a seminar in connection with the show, on ‘New media geographies / space, architecture and technology’, chaired by Saul Albert, with contributions from Carol MacGillivray and Bruno Mathez, as well as the artists, Ugochukwu-Smooth Nwezi & Emeka Ogboh, in conversation with (ahem) yours truly. Come along! It’s on Saturday 25 February, from 4pm until 7, and more info can be found here.

There’s a publication accompanying the festival, including a recent interview between me and One Room Shack, which you can also read here. For details about the other exhibitions and events during the festival, take a look here.

Show:
25th February – 8th April

Opening hours:
Daily, 1-9

Watermans
40 High Street, Brentford, West London
TW8 0DS