It was a brilliantly cold December day and we heading for the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Kensington Gardens when when we happened on this marvellous magic mirror. We were already in fantasy-mode too. We had just been questing in Kensington’s Enchanted Palace exhibition, wherein the State Apartments had been filled with mysterious installations that told serial tales of seven princesses who had once lived in Kensington Palace. Many of the stories were hauntingly sad, and the last of these, Princess Diana’s, very much skated over. And so, despite the grandeur of the place, and the wonder of the installations, we were left with disturbing cobwebby feelings that made me think of finding wicked fairies in the attic. It was good to step out into the icy air and regain some sense of reality.
But then look what happened…?
Wandering through the wintery park, we collided with this piece of optical wizardry – sculptor Anish Kapoor’s C-Curve – a highly polished steel convex-concave mirror. It turned out to be one of four magnificent pieces making up the six-month 2010-11 exhibition put on by the Serpentine Gallery in conjunction with the Royal Parks. Sadly, the exhibition is over, but you can have a retrospective view and see a short video at this link:
Anish Kapoor: Turning the World Upside Down
But the great thing about the C-Curve was the huge enjoyment it was giving to all the passers-by. Public art at its very best. You could walk right up to it. You could watch yourself do silly walks and upside-down too. You could hug your partner and grin inanely at your reflections. It made you, the viewer, the subject of the work. It inspired you to explore the landscape with fresh eyes as reality became a multi-layered spectacle and wonder. It was thus a resplendent antidote to palace fantasies and wicked fairies in the attic. What an artist is Anish Kapoor.
And finally for a different interpretation of OBJECT. Here is Anish Kapoor and friends in the official Amnesty International’s video objecting to human rights abuses. Gangnam for Freedom. Go for it…
Tish Farrell 
So cool!
Thank you. Anish Kapoor is such a cool guy.
Wow, that is indeed a creative object. The first photo makes me wondering how the mirror is constructed.
I can see myself spending a few fun moments with this! Good choice, Tish.
Oh good. Am glad it intrigues.
Very cool!
Very cool mirrors – I love the way they distort reality so you get to look again and again to figure out what you are really seeing.
It is wonderful:)
Isn’t it just!
Ha ha, did you go to the extension to Serps Gallery? It’s on my list of must dos.
Yes we did go to the Serpentine. It’s one of my favourite galleries. Definitely a case is small is beautiful.
I’m going backwards through time… looking for posts I missed while over my head in the complexities of my own private life… and now I see this post… I commented on a later post where you spoke of this mirror. I really like the sculpture if that’s what it is… and enjoyed your treatment of it. That first picture is just fantastic!
It is great fun, isn’t it. I like the way it challenges the viewer’s perception too.
Wonderful stuff, Tish, and what a perfect day you had for it. Sometimes I miss living in London and the access that gives you to the parks and exhibitions. But that was all a long time ago. Vicariously I shall enter the video 🙂 Thank you!
Yes the London parks and galleries are so very wonderful. We’ve not been to London for ages. It seems such a toil from Shropshire. Anyway, glad you liked the pix.
Magnificent! The red disc and the swans! 🙂