Winter Lights, Big Crowds

Every year we head over to Canary Wharf to see the Winter Lights Art Installation, we wander around in the chilly evening air and look at the light inspired Installations. When we saw the adverts on Social Media for this years we planned our trip, but what we found was, well, it wasn’t what we had come to expect…

We have been going to the business district outside the City for about 5 years now, every time there is a new Art Installation. Taking ourselves around the docks and waterways, around the skyscrapers and through the various squares, seeking out the latest industrial designs using LED’s and tricks of light to make new and interesting creations and this year looked to be much the same and was.

For some reason the Winter Lights used to be the Christmas Lights but now has moved from a relevant festive display to a random event right at the end of January or sometimes February.

What was different then? Well the 50,000 people was what was different! It has to be said it’s great that an Art Exhibition can attract such vast numbers, but on exiting the tube station last Saturday evening to find a crowd like the home supporters leaving a football match, was a shock and uncomfortable! Then to be ushered along the route and ordered to follow everyone else, with no allowance of free will, to cross a road or turn right instead of left! We couldn’t move, but we tried to go with the crowd (literally) and see what there was to see this year.

In all there were 13 pieces between Westferry Circus and Union Square with a couple of pieces that are permanent fixtures these days, like ‘Bit.fall’ the dropping water that spells out a new word every 10 seconds and the ‘ Clew’ at Cubbit Bridge. But of the rest well lets see…

On the Westferry Circus side of the map you can find 1,2 and 3 plus some of the permanent fixtures.

1 – On the Wave of Light – aka The Brewdog Blue light that was motion activated sticks. Honestly as nice as the idea was they don’t really work that well. With the hundreds of people walking around it was either constantly on or with the amount of selfies that were taken they were fading out due to no movement. It would have been better if they had been blinking every-time someone passed or in rhythm or something.

2 – Neuron – aka the Slow Moving Daisy Lights – Really hard to photograph but was pretty enough when you could see over the heads of selfie takers (Are you are sensing a theme?- we hate selfie takers!) It wasn’t as impressive as we thought it would be but ahh well. The concept is interesting but it was far too slow on delivery.

3 Sign – aka The Slow Fire and the evil bollard of broken knees! This probably would be pretty even somewhat therapeutic if you could get close to it. That being said It was one of the best pieces – probably the most dramatic. It was horrible to be herded across the road, through a small gate and forced forward in clumps of 100 people. Hence the bollard hurting knees.

There was also the Permanent “Shine your Colors” – otherwise known as the plexiglass selfie alcoves. Again could have been interesting if it wasn’t filled with vain idiots obsessed with taking selfies.

4 – Les Oiseaux – We have no name for this as we didn’t even notice it – they just looked like normal street lights.

5. Marbles – aka a really slow moving ball in a cage. A smaller marble climbed up to the top and then slowly rolled down a slide to the bottom to climb again, kind of like a kid left in the Funfair to ride the Helter-Skelter all day. It is incredibly slow and very anti-climatic – the only fun part I guess was when the ball finally made it’s ascent people cheered a singular humorous moment where a crowd finally agreed on something.

6 – The Peace Poem – aka The neon sign, wow someone wrote something in neon – SHOCKING! and they did it twice! It was the sort of poem you can imagine a stupid Hipster who sits outside of coffee shops with his thimble cup and a copy of Proust. – We just looked him up and yep exactly as we thought.

After a bit of walking and weaving you walk through the Captivated by Color Tunnel – The bridge that takes you to the Elizabeth Line and the escalator to the Roof Garden. This was pure Hell! One of us was pushed left and down the other was pushed up the escalator. Upstairs there are 3 separate pieces (again could have been pretty but with over a thousand people with their obnoxious children it is quite the opposite)

7. Vessels – With 10,000 of your closest friends you wander through the tranquil garden and look at some boxes with lasers lights creating shapes inside a pyramid. Whilst Children try and smash the lights and their parents look on proudly.

On you walk pass some purple lights pointed at trees (again yet another Selfie opportunity)

8. Biophilia – The light burst through cables – I (Bob) actually thought this was kinda pretty and even found the word Love (but maybe it was just me) I liked that you could follow the burst of light around twisting and swirling cables. Ash however found it to only be half working or just wonky twists of cable – maybe it got broken?

9 – In-Between – Squares that have mirrors and lights in- there was a couple of noises inside but I mean it was really Lackluster!

Then down the escalator and on to the next group.

Three permanent installations that are seriously dull, some sticks in a hole, and a grid that doesn’t work!

Thankfully a lot of the hoards of parents and precocious brats gave up of the walk to 10 & 11 seemingly it was too far or they knew something we didn’t!

10. Submergence – The Hanging Rubber Beads – This probably was the best of a very meh set of Lights this year. The hanging balls would light up to music and create a very pretty wave of color. This raised a lot of ‘ooos’ and ‘ahhhs’ but as always there are people who are yanking on the hanging wires and trying to break them – it should go without saying that you shouldn’t yank on the lights but you know … humans. The Staff were even yelling “STOP YANKING THE WIRES THEY WILL BREAK” but that didn’t stop them, they just waited for the staff to leave then yanked twice as hard. There is a pretty standard piece with some small variations each year.

11. Kinetic Perspective – aka A row of bike wheel on a rotisserie. Kind of a pretty floral design but so so so so slowwwwww.

12. Geist – A hexagonal box with a cube inside casting light and shapes – unsure what it was meant to be. Other than somewhere for someone to stand for can you guess?

A selfie!