Emergence, an immersive audio-visual installation by SABCA Member, This is Loop, debuts at Canary Wharf’s Winter Lights Festival this January

Montgomery Square, Canary Wharf, E14
Wednesday 18th – Saturday 28th January 2023

As part of Winter Lights 2023 at Canary Wharf, This is Loop (a SABCA Member) is presenting their most ambitious work to date: a major audio-visual artwork, Emergence. Conceived and built by artists Harriet Lumby and Alan Hayes, the co-founders of This is Loop, Emergence is a new, large-scale sculpture incorporating moving light and an original soundscape by the NYX: electronic drone choir, who specialise in exploring the entire spectrum of the collective voice as an instrument. This is Loop are renowned for their sculptural artworks including Prism (Coal Drops Yard, 2021), PULSE and TOROID (Blink Cincinnati 2022, ADE Amsterdam 2022, Light Up Leicester 2022).

This meditative installation of light and sound will be at Canary Wharf, immersing the audience in a moment of escape from the bustling reality around them. Lumby and Hayes have incorporated ideas around the positive effects of light on wellbeing, and the combined mood-altering power of light and sound, to provide an open, inclusive and contemplative experience for audiences this winter.

The sculpture is a three by ten metre pavilion, open to the sky and punctuated with entrances so audiences can explore inside. Emergence is made up of mirrored, tunnel trapezoids stacked together, like bricks in a wall, to create a stunning visual effect with over 10,000 LED lights woven throughout. In the daylight, the visual effect of Emergence will mirror the sky, buildings and audience, creating a multifaceted reflection of its surrounding environment.

Once darkness falls, the sculpture will be animated with a choreographed light show playing across the many-sided mirror to the captivating soundscape.

Emergence marks the first time This is Loop have worked with NYX Choir, collaborating on the composition of an original score. The lighting works in partnership with the hypnotic soundscape. NYX is a London based choir that specialises in electronic drone sound. The choir is known for testing the boundaries of what a choir can be, as well as pushing the limits of a collective voice as an instrument, resulting in enthralling music, such as the piece for Emergence.

Emergence has been designed as a free and accessible artwork for all members of the community. The installation has been conceived to transcend language and appeal to all ages from 3 to 93. This is Loop aim to highlight the importance of art, light and wellbeing for all in the winter months, and free access to culture for everyone during these diffcult economic times. Alongside Emergence, This is Loop will also present their light sculpture TOROID at Canary Wharf’s Winter Lights Festival in Union Square.

Artists and co-founders of This is Loop, Harriet Lumby and Alan Hayes, comment, Emergence is a concept we have been playing with for a while.

The process has been truly collaborative, working with our extended creative team and the brilliant minds of the NYX. It’s resulted in a piece we are extremely excited to be premiering at Canary Wharf’s Winter Lights 2023. Their event has always been a great inspiration to us with such a strong line up of light artists year on year. We can’t wait for audiences to see, hear and feel the results of our collaborative audio-visual experiment. See you there.