This has definitely been the summer of playful art installations brimming with spherical objects, from Snarkitecture’s ball-pit Washington, DC to Martin Creed’s balloon-room in Seattle.
London is joining the party with French artist Charles Pétillon’s massive cloud of balloons in the 19th-century Market Building in London’s Covent Garden. The installation, Heartbeat, features 100,000 balloons strung together throughout the south hall of the historic building. Buried within the balloon clusters is a pulsating white light that is designed to mimic the rhythm of a heartbeat.
“The balloon invasions I create are metaphors,” said Pétillon. “Their goal is to change the way in which we see the things we live alongside each day without really noticing them. With Heartbeat I want to represent the Market Building as the beating heart of this area – connecting its past with the present day to allow visitors to re-examine its role at the heart of London’s life,” he added.
Heartbeat will remain until September 27th. No word on what happens if you manage to pop a balloon.
Photography: Paul Grover
