REVIEW - United Visual Artists - 'Momentum' (at the Curve, Barbican Centre)

http://www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery/event-detail.asp?ID=15620

On a Friday afternoon free from work I decided to head across London to the Barbican Centre to visit the Curve's latest installation 'Momentum'. I decided the most appropriate approach to such a work was to take a convoluted walking route there, one that would mean, upon my arrival, I would be suitably saturated by the high-octane motion and intensity of the city.

At times when out and about, I feel it worthwhile stopping and for just a few moments revelling in the intoxicating headiness of the built environment that surrounds and at times oppresses. The staggering sensation of pure momentum can only really be intuited from a quiescent poise; from the rapid elevation of modern construction, to the ceaseless traffic flow (both on the ground and in the sky), to the pace of fashions, trends and styles, and the frenetic movements of the people who cultivate and chase them.

With this urban condition in mind, stepping inside the crepuscular enclosure of the Curve feels like the equivalent of standing in the middle of a crowded space and extinguishing your senses - jamming fingers into ears and clenching eyes closed so that only the fragmentary stains of light dapple the insides of your eyelids.

The installation takes the form of a series of 12 pendulum light sources that swing with a dissonant synchronicity, aiming to force a readjustment of the orthodox perceptions of space and time as so often mandated through the movement of light. As you move through the open space, the hypnotic rhythms of the luminaries begin to assert their almost meditative quality; compressing the sensory cacophony of external reality into this metronomic day-dream state in which you can do nothing but drift.

The overriding effect is best observed from near the exit point, where your perspective on the anfractious shape is most pronounced, and the beams cast luminescent ribs onto the skin of the curve. The luster alternates, being at times faint like fireflies chasing each other around a flickering flame, at other times ominous like searchlights roving across a sea surface looking for shipwreck survivors.

Whilst the nascent ataraxy of the work suffers somewhat from the unavoidable presence of other attendees moving through the same space, and falls short of the reputedly trascendental heights of the visual artist James Turrel's light experiments; there is still much to be said for the theraputic qualities that this work can bestow, if only momentarily.

By working to dampen down the intensified sensory cognition demanded by the manuveuring through city space with all its incandescent stimuli and peripheral distractions, 'Momentum' seeks to peel away the multifarious appendages that clutter the conscious mind to engender, temporarily at least, a chance for order amongst chaos, quiet amongst commotion, and meditative reflection amidst the maelstrom of modern life.