United Visual Artists' Serpentine Gallery Summer Pavilion Intervention brought Sou Mujimoto's Serpentine Pavilion to life, at a performance event on an evening in June.
British art and design studio United Visual Artists (UVA) collaborated with creative agency My Beautiful City to electrify the one-of-a-kind cloud-like structure with a man-made thunderstorm.
The performance installation in the centre of the Serpentine Pavilion aimed to make the architecture "breathe", seemingly awakening a character and energy from within. In doing so, the studio reference their past works, which – similar to Fujimoto's – are founded upon geometric interests.
UVA took inspiration from the transparent, undefined attributes of the pavilion, which changes form depending on perspective, shifting as one's eyes travel across it. The studio's electrical-storm effect was made by using a number of LED strips encased in clear plastic tubes. These individually attach to the temporary pavilion's steel grid with magnets. To create both a visual and aural sensation, the lights are accompanied by thunderous sounds, created by a combination of hums and buzzes captured from electric power stations.
Fujimoto's Serpentine Pavilion will be on display outside the Serpentine Gallery until 20 October 2013.
