On Harper Rd off the New Kent Rd, near Elephant and Castle, in an abandoned housing estate, there is an installation. It is not visible from the exterior which is entirely undewhelming . However you walk inside to be enveloped by a shimmering field of blue: different shades compete for your eye as light reflects and refracts. The lower floor of the house has been crystallized. The space, once the living room and a small bathroom are encrusted from floor to ceiling in copper sulphate.
It reminds me of graphic and cinematic depictions of Superman’s refuge from the world, The Fortress of Solitude. This allusion to an epic sci-fi film set is partly neutralized by the domestic context of the project. The allure of the work lies in its transformation of the everyday - proportions, shapes, forms and spatial relationships we are so familiar with made superficially alien.
Beyond its own presence the work does not seem to engage with the politics of its location, like fireworks without sound, it feels mute to me. Nonetheless it demonstrates a fruitful fusion of the knowledge of science with that of contemporary art practice and its traditions; in doing so suggesting that wells of inspiration lie for artists not so much in unrecognised or ignored visual practice from other cultures (or populist culture) - but other intellectual disciplines altogether.
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