Walter x Zoniel, Spectra: Union, 2023
Walter x Zoniel have been commissioned to create a version of their SPECTRA installation celebrating the Coronation of His Majesty The King at the St James’s Market Pavilion. SPECTRA: UNION is a celebration of unity, delving into ideas surrounding the concept of home and belonging. Walter x Zoniel invited 100 people to participate in the creation of this artwork, and their individual portraits are exhibited within. Walter x Zoniel strongly advocate accessibility to art and have created multiple installations that encourage inclusivity in the art world. All aspects of their practice centre around ‘the magic of connection’ within humanity and nature. This sense of openness and inclusivity is reflected in those who participated in the creation of this artwork.
Walter x Zoniel’s SPECTRA artwork is a large-scale, site-specific installation dealing with the transformation of a public space, building, or entity through the use of colour and disruption. The layers of colour are created through a stage of public interaction during each installation. Every colour applied represents an individual’s answer to a specific set of questions asked by the artists. The resulting artwork is an abstract representation of a living debate. Colours converge, diversify, transform, and clarify one another, just as our thoughts and opinions do through the act of discussion and debate. The questions are devised and presented by the artists to have Yes/No, A/B answers. There are no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers to the questions. Their simplicity and presentation play with our societal manners to respond appropriately when, in actuality, each question acts as a doorway to a much deeper discussion upon the subjects. The public participation stage uses elements of fun and surrealism, which are key to Walter x Zoniel’s artistic practice. Both the interactive stage and the final artwork act upon reassigning meaning to buildings, spaces, or entities that are familiar to us. SPECTRA is a multi-layered work, both observational and participatory, engaging and empowering debate on subjects relating to the site of each artwork. The piece studies the role of mischief and its relationship to inspiration and creative expansion. By crossing the lines of what is normally sanctioned and allowing those participating to momentarily be released from some of the constraints of the everyday norm.
Walter x Zoniel were commissioned to create a version of their SPECTRA installation for the Coronation of His Majesty The King at the St James’s Market Pavilion. SPECTRA: UNION is a celebration of unity, delving into ideas surrounding the concepts of home and belonging. Walter x Zoniel invited 100 people to participate in the creation of this artwork, which was realised upon the Union Jack flag. Unique to this incarnation, the artists shot individual portraits of everyone who took part in the creation stage. These were shot on one of Walter x Zoniel’s hybrid cameras using a 150-year-old brass lens and are exhibited within the pavilion. Each colour represents the following answers given in the creation of SPECTRA: UNION. You can decode the artwork by using the answers below.
- Do you have to be an artist to make art?
YES: ORANGE
No: YELLOW
- Is home the place you were born?
YES: RED
No: PINK
- What defines a country?
A: The Land: BLUE
B: The People: GREEN