Sam Jacob, ‘Summer Awakening’ for Selfridges London, 2021, London, UK.
These three structures rework the ritualistic objects of celebrations and festivals we have woven around summer.
The structures combine neolithic and folkloric references with modern graphic colour and geometric forms.
Ancient standing stones meet the flash of a neon light, connecting rituals and gestures we have used to celebrate summer over thousands of years: Part druidic-pagan, part municipal equipment, part rave.
Each structure represents a phase of a summer’s day: Sunrise, high noon and sunset, where the colour of the light and temperature of air and the lengths of the shadows shift so dramatically. These are techno-pagan sculptures for a modern kind of nature. They might be structures for summer rituals, or for new kinds of sun salutation.
They were originally commissioned by Selfridges