Somerset House announces new commission from Tai Shani

The sculpture, The Spell, is the centrepiece of the series and is defined as follows:

“The Spell is a magnificent 10m x 3m sculpture drawing on the archetypal fairytale image of a sleeping figure in a glass box, featuring a newly commissioned soundscape by composer, producer and double bassist Maxwell Sterling. Resting atop a stepped plinth, where visitors can sit, gather or peer inside, the figure lies within a faceted case; a dreamer caught in a suspended state under the spell. Animated by subtle movement, the luminous blue figure is hand painted and gently breathes, eyes partially open, at the cusp of waking from this cursed slumber. The figure has been sleeping through warnings of present and future catastrophes, the violence of colonialism and its living legacies, economic inequality, social breakdown, political disaster, and environmental collapse. But the figure also dreams of resistance against the fairytale of empire—of renewal and new imaginaries. It invites a communal, intergenerational intervention to imagine, wonder, and dream alongside it.”

The full programme of events, talks and performances can be found HERE.