An intriguing installation of shifting lights draws SARAH MAYHEW towards Oxford’s Radcliffe Observatory Quarter

What exactly is going on behind the hording at Radcliffe Observatory Quarter has captivated my imagination on several occasions as I’ve passed along Walton Street and the Woodstock Road, skirting around this intriguing reincarnation of public space.

All things University of Oxford leave me with an urge to attempt to dodge a porter and break on through to the other side (particularly at night), so I was giddy with excitement to hear about a recently installed installation at Radcliffe Observatory Quarter that invites members of the public to do just that.

Susan Collins’ temporary lighting installation is less of a beacon, more of an intriguing, shifting, low level glow with a supernatural pull that lures viewers in off the street towards the Radcliffe Observatory at Green Templeton College at night.

(Note the use of ‘towards’ not into –the installation is designed to be viewed from the outside, there is no public access to the Radcliffe Observatory or Green Templeton College). Still, by-passing a man in high-vis to get closer to the work, entitled Brighter Later, held the kick of permissible trespassing in the name of art for me.

Oxford Mail:

Collins is one of the UK’s leading artists in digital media and was commissioned by the University of Oxford to create this work to coincide with Oxford’s Christmas Light Festival.

In an exciting move, by the University of Oxford, Brighter Later is one of the first projects in a Public Art Programme that will see more contemporary art installed in public spaces around the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.

As I drew closer to the Observatory Tower Room and focused on the nuances of the light more intently I noticed, or thought I noticed, a subtle change in hue. Slowly moving around the building looking for affirmation of what I’d seen, I found myself slightly mystified, unable to trust my vision, and feeling somewhat at sea in a world that I didn’t know enough about. I felt humbled, perhaps also a little frustrated, and left with the sensation of greater elements at play.

I later learnt that the light installation is informed by the Observatory’s role in the history of astronomy and meteorological recording.

Collins took her cue for the work from the origins of the Radcliffe Observatory, which was built in the late 18th century to observe the Transit of Venus and functioned as an observatory until 1934.

Delving deeper into history, the Observatory and its architecture was based on the Tower of the Winds in Athens, which was erected in 100-50BC and functioned as a ‘timepiece’ featuring a combination of sundials, a water clock and a wind vane.

It would seem that the shifts I had observed weren’t imagined, as the myriad of ambient coloured lights that make up Brighter Later are driven by data from a bespoke weather measuring system that responds in real time to meteorological variables. Be patient, pay attention, and notice how a fall in temperature is reflected in the colour of the lights, from amber through to blue. Apparently wind direction, wind strength and rainfall also create fluctuations in colour and brightness, transmitting and revealing changes through rapid and smooth transitions… and not a single high-vis vests wearing, assertive security guard or bowler-hat clad porter will stop you from camping out to contemplate this quietly remarkable morphing marvel.

It seems that this building is an ever intriguing source of inspiration to artists and continues to provide a truly unique host for the development of both academic and artistic new work today having seen Turner Prize-winning artist Simon Starling exhibit in it last year, Susan Philipsz in 2009, and now Susan Collins. And although the Observatory is no longer a working astronomical observatory, the Radcliffe weather station in the gardens of Green Templeton College is still monitored daily by Department of Geography academics, just as Susan Collins’ work will on one level evoke wonder and fascination, and on another be studied by the captivated, curious and observant passer-by between dusk and midnight each night until Sunday.

Brighter Later appears to offer some much needed perspective at a time of year when it feels as though time spins out of control, and the commercial world conspires against you.

This work is not startling, nor intrusive, it does not grab you, more gently guides you, taking you by the hand, and inviting you to circumnavigate a road less travelled. Eventually leaving you lulled into a contemplative state, and left to mull over some of the bigger questions in life as the Radcliffe Observatory and the Tower of the Winds has prompted so many academics and artists to do before you.

I urge you to take a walk around the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, look up, feel the temperature against your skin, and the wind against your face – this is nature, and Brighter Later is a visual representation of what it is to be living in the present, in OX2 6AD right here, right now.

The exhibition, Susan Collins Brighter Later, continues between dusk and midnight each night until Sunday at the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in Oxford.
It is free to view.