Trip the light fantastic with Cerith Wyn Evans

When I read the publicity for this not-so-snappily titled show "Everyone’s gone to the movies, now we’re alone at last", with its dizzying references to Steely Dan, American holosonic inventors, radio telescopes, Japanese rock gardens, phenomenology and galactic
alignment, my heart sank. Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans, 52, is capable of creating engrossingly enigmatic installations but he can veer into arcane territory. Pleasingly, though, this show avoids the latter, and includes two
of his most mesmerising environments.

Bright light: in Cerith Wyn Evans’ S=U=P=E= R=S=T=R=U= C= T=U=R=E seven floor to ceiling columns of tubular light fade to black before pulsing back to life

C=O=N=S=T=E=L=L=A=T=I=O=N on the ground floor is initially muted in its impact —four mobiles dangle circular mirrors at various heights and rotate slowly in the gallery space. But on the back of the mirrors are speakers, which emit various sounds — sitar twangs, distant songs, feedback, and static ticks, which might be field recordings from those radio telescopes. These shift from speaker to speaker, and bounce off the walls, much like light flashing from mirrors, creating a profoundly disorientating experience. Time and again I would be pulled towards a speaker trying to listen to a sound or piece of music, only to hear it coming from behind or to the side of me, like a ghost taunting a character in a horror movie.

S=U=P=E=R=S=T=R=U=C=T=U=R=E downstairs is another sensory delight. Immediately, I was struck by the surprisingly fierce, oppressive heat coming from seven columns made from thousands of tubular lights. Gradually, these columns fade to black before pulsing back to life again, growing brighter and hotter. Wonderful details emerged as I lingered in the space — the room’s shifting colour; the retinal afterimage left by the light tubes, and the solar shapes formed at the top of the columns by the lights’ reflections on the
ceiling. Steadily, Wyn Evans’s galactic references begin to emerge.

His brilliant use of the White Cube spaces confirms that when he is at the top of his game, he is among the best installation artists around — this show is one of the highlights of the year so far.
Until May 22 (020 7930 5373, www.whitecube.com)

Cerith Wyn Evans
White Cube At Mason's Yard
Mason's Yard, SW1Y 6BU

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