Past exhibitions

19 November – 12 December 2008

Willie Williams
Lumia Domestica

An installation of kinetic light sculptures

Lumia Domestica is an ongoing series of works investigating the transformative power of light. First shown at Turnpike Gallery, Greater Manchester, the installation has been developed at subsequent showings at the Science Gallery of Trinity College Dublin and cutting-edge, group show Collision at Area 10 in Peckham.


watch High Definition version (click on "watch in HD") © Crispin Holland, crisptv.co.uk

A life-long fascination with kitsch drew Williams to the ugly and discarded glassware at the heart of each piece in the exhibition. The transformation into a sublime and meditative environment exemplifies Williams' chief concern – the artist's responsibility to discover beauty in unlikely places, rather than to accept societal 'givens' dictated by fashion, advertising and junk TV.



The resulting light-paintings also demonstrate Williams' response to a world now utterly saturated with video imagery. These fascinating, hypnotic creations are not a recording – everything we see is being generated 'live' simply by coloured light passing through simple domestic objects. The video projectors serve merely to magnify these generative light-works to a scale appropriate for Wallspace. Meanwhile, the grinding of the turntable motors, reverberating through the sanctuary, provides a live atmospheric accompaniment.



Williams says: "I decided to make something that would play with the idea of 'light shows'. From the earliest 'lumia' experiments of the 1920s to the automated lighting of modern day theatre, the principle is the same – there is a light source, something to make colour and then a piece of glass to focus or diffract the output. Quite how I got from there to cake stands I don't exactly remember, but the notion of taking humble, if not hideous, domestic objects and using them to make the aurora borealis was an opportunity I couldn't resist."



"It was also important for the process to look absolutely effortless – as if I'd just stumbled across these things, pointed a light at them and it all just happened by itself. In reality it took a great deal of time and experimentation to perfect the design of the illuminated turntables and produce the right feel, but hopefully that will not be apparent to the viewer. The goal is to create a sense of wonder, but also to raise a smile."

Lumia Domestica at Wallspace
For this new incarnation of Lumia Domestica, Williams has taken up the challenge of the very particular environment provided by Wallspace's 18th century church in the heart of the City of London. He uses the same domestic sources, but in this place – steeped in history, and where generations have come to explore the spiritual – the subtle shifts of light may suggest other, ethereal reflections. And not only has he lit the inside of the church, with a glowing, humming, riot of colour and shape, he has also created an installation in All Hallows' bell tower cupola which sends light into the night sky. Just in time for Christmas.