Created by artist’s collective and public art specialists, the aptly named Greyworld, the Trafalgar Sun, commissioned by Tropicana as part of their Brighter Mornings Campaign, is a new art installation replicating an early morning sunrise. Weighing two and a half tons, measuring 30 feet in diameter and using 260,000 watts of power, the sunshine promises to light up London. We caught up with Greyworld’s Andrew Shoben.

How long have you been working on The Trafalgar Sun?
It’s a big project and we began it five months ago. We’ve been eyeing up Trafalgar Square for ages as it has a natural flow for work. We wanted to create something allowing people to inter-act in a non-pushy way.

You specialise in public art…
… It’s a dance with two partners. We’re trying to create work that engages, so people aren’t going specifically to see some art, they just see it on their way somewhere else.  This was an opportunity to create something to give a real lift.

Did you take inspiration from Olarfur Eliasson’s The Weather Project?
That was great and a wonderful artwork, and showed the effect the sun can have on people, but it wasn’t part of the inspiration. This piece is different, it’s outside and has a 360 degree panorama. We wanted to give people a more sunny feeling, show how sunlight streams across a space, give people a real sun.

So how did you get started?
The first thing was to look at the light. The difference between sunrise and sunset is dramatic. Our sun is starting in the morning, when the sunlight is orange and yellow. It has the feeling of potential, the beginning of a good day. We started experimenting with it.

How do you make a sun that changes the natural outdoor light?
It has to be extremely bright! It’s 56 metres tall and the structure itself needs to glow. We began by making small versions, on flat surfaces. We tried different materials, silk, nylon, plastic and we’ve ended up using a blend. We had to consider the safety aspect, too.

Is it all finished now?
Everything’s in one place now, we just need to do the final part, mechanics and trussing.

Transporting it will be a challenge!
We’re using a 100 ton crane, and we’ll start putting it up at 6pm the night before.

I guess you must have your own generator?
Yes, we thought it better than asking someone to plug in an extension cable!  There’ve been other issues too : it’s a world heritage site, the square is paved with Portland stone slabs so we’ve been keen to ensure there’s no damage done.

So when’s the best time for people to come and see it?
We switch it on at 5.57am, but my feeling is that it’ll be at its most impressive an hour before the real dawn, at 6.57am. Throughout the day it’ll be adding extra sunlight and then it’ll be at its best again as it gets dark, around 6pm.

The work is only here for one day. It would be nice to take it around the country.
That’s the dream. It’s imminently tourable, and would be great in any town square. We want to spread the love……

The Trafalgar Sun, Trafalgar Square, London, from 5.57am until 7.33pm on Monday 23rd January

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About the author

Loma-Ann Marks
Loma was a performer and freelance writer before becoming a journalist on the Daily Star Sunday, Daily Star and Express. She's the Founder and Editor of Culture Compass. North, South, East or West? I'll go anywhere. I like to think that I'm a pretty good map reader ( not everyone would agree ) but then I remind them that I navigated my way around the Paris one-way system with NO mistakes. High Class or Common or Garden? High class in the garden. Clothes or Culture? Culture in new clothes. My best night out ever made me feel....... That things would never be the same again. And they surely weren't the following day.

1 Comment for A Sunny Trafalgar Square for Blue Monday

Paul Kearney

This seems in keeping with their Canadian inflatable sun done a while ago – absolutely amazing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Krky4i6Xk8

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