Your ship has landed
NOW Gallery continues to punch well above its weight when it comes to eye-catching immersive art exhibits. Which kinda makes sense given its location in the excess space of a property sales showroom just across the entry to the O2.
Always know your audience. In this case, their latest installation — Your Ship Has Landed by @lydiaaachan — appears to be aimed clearly at those with kids, who pass by in droves especially on weekends.
Although officially, at least according to the press release, the intent is to allow ‘everyone’ to experience “an environment where people are able to come and perform, dance, pose”. But unless you’re too too short to ride a rollercoaster you’re going to miss out on the most fun.
Kids are allowed — in fact, encouraged — to take of their shoes and explore the art from within. (Zoom in to the right of Image 1.) Theatre-like backdrop displays entice them to crawl and hide in and around the curvy alien forms, which are more ‘street art’ in style than the day-glo press photos you may have seen on social media imply. (Images 2 and 3)
An “A/R” option brings wormlike and eyeball aliens to life (Image 4), but I was a bit underwhelmed it just a selection of Instagram filters and not an actual experience that added any real depth or meaning to the work.
But does anything this smile-inducing really need deep meaning? After all we’ve been though in the past two years, you can’t really fault something that doesn’t do much more than entice you to kick off your shoes and dance. Or take a helluva lot of silly selfies.
@NOWGallerySE10 until 06 Mar
Top Tip: Unless you have kids, go on a week day.
Visit https://nowgallery.co.uk/exhibitions/your-ship-has-landed or @NOWGallerySE10 on Instagram