During the late 1980s, Andrew Pepper occupied a [space] Studio in the London Borough of Hackney.
In conjunction with the Whitechapel Open (1989), artists who worked in Victor House organised open studios to showcase their work and invite the local community into their building.
Open weekend: 16–17 September 1989.
Title: Point Addition – Mix
Date: 1989
Size: Installation – Gallery wall and floor – Hologram H 25.4 x W 20.32cm (10 x 8 in)
Materials: Reflection hologram on glass, wood plinth, electronic dimmers, narrow-beam spotlights
Edition: Unique
Notes: Installation produced for the Victor House Open Studios, Hackney, London
Point Addition – Mix used a previously produced hologram (Point Addition), which was hung upside down on the studio wall.
Holograms are normally hung so that the light needed to illuminate them can be shone onto them from above. Here, it was possible to illuminate the piece from below.
Directly in front of the piece stood a wooden plinth containing three narrow-beam spotlights which shone up onto the hologram and allowed its recorded image to be reconstructed.
On the plinth, where visitors would normally expect to find an object (using a traditional museum/gallery display vocabulary and expectations), were three rotary control knobs. Each allowed a corresponding spotlight to be dimmed or turned off completely.
As holograms normally require a single source of light to reconstruct their recorded image, any extra light can cause disruption to the display – often resulting in multiple images or blurring. Here, control of that disruption was given to the observer, who could add and subtract extra light to the display.
The result was a multiplication of the luminous ‘dots’ held in the holographic volume. The gallery visitor was given an opportunity to ‘mix’ points of light in space and therefore construct their own light structure in real time and three dimensions.
Image © Space Studios
Victor House, located on Richmond Road, Hackney, London, is part of [space] Studios – London’s largest studio provider, supporting artists and building creative communities since 1968.
More details about how [space] Studios supports artists in London can be found here: www.spacestudios.org.uk