On to the last part of the day after the earlier adventures of Banksy:Limitless, Trafalgar Square protest, and Lee Miller at Tate Britain.
Arriving in Marble Arch on the tube and heading out, I was to be at the Frameless gallery at 7pm and I made it with a bit of time to spare. Entering into the building my bag was inspected for dangerous items of which there were none and I was allowed to head around the corridor to the top of the escalator and downwards into the depths of the building.
Beyond Reality
A quick scan around showed me a cafe/bar and the artworks all in separate rooms so I headed into the first one. “Beyond Reality“
was the first large room I sat in, on a bench near a mirrored stanchion. There were guests all around the edge of the room, some on the floor and some on the provided bean bags. The door had a sign on it stating this show would last 20+ minutes so I sat on the cushioned seat and marvelled at the wraparound experience. It truly was a visually immersive experience with the works of Dali, Klimt, Ernst, and Munch coming to life on the walls and floor, reflected by the mirrored ceiling.
It was great seeing the build up of Munch’s The Scream coming to life in an animated fashion that did not feel too exploitative of the original artists works. The music accompanying the varied animations and transitions were also well placed.
Dali’s long legged elephants appeared to step over the visitors in the room and make their way to the wall, towering over everyone as they unsteadily walked around. The soundscape made the experience even more surreal than it already was. I recognised these elephants as being a Dali creation from the Shrewsbury Arts Trail in 2023 when sculptures of these creatures were on display in Shrewsbury’s Museum and Art Gallery. The colours of the landscape were hellish too providing further sense of unease.
A room full of pocket watches appeared, yet another Dali creation, and as they all settled down to become his famous work The Persistence Of Memory the discombobulation provided by the movements and the sounds was complete.
Whilst I understand that these work renowned artists did not sanction the use of their works in this form, their estates must have granted permission. The use of them in this way was far more acceptable than the tat I had seen at the Banksy exhibition earlier in the day, and felt more respectful to the artists and their estates. It was using the images as a form of reverence to the originals and the investment in time and design had produced a worthwhile output.
Abstraction
Now a short walk across the aisle into the “Art Of Abstraction” exhibit saw a room full of screen walls placed at various angles being used to project onto. The artists in here being projected included Mondrian, Kandinsky, Klee and Klimt with the music being simultaneously played adding a jaunty nature to some of the work whilst bright colours and geometric patterns danced on the screens, occasionally allowing the sight of a fellow visitor across the room. The art was indeed abstract but I found this room to be representative of the artists in a disconnected way, almost a collage of their work. Not together, but separately collaged from segments of their paintings.
Colour
The next room, “Colour in Motion”, featured an interactive component, motion tracking, similar to those in the teamLab:Borderless exhibitions in Tokyo. Leafs and feathers from the paintings as well as blobs of paint would fall to the floor allowing them to trample through and disturbing them as they moved away from the person and in some cases fly up the walls.
Works by Seurat, Van High, Delauney and Monet all featured in here, some in a highly deconstructed manner before coming together higher up on the walls. The soundscape again was impressive and helped with the natural feeling of the landscapes that were featured. Not my favourite room though this one, for some reason I felt a little flat about this room, possibly as I was comparing it to the experiences I had in teamLab: Planets and Borderless in Tokyo.
The World
The last of the major rooms was “The World Around Us” featuring more work from Rembrandt, Hokusai, Turner, and Canaletto. It was the best room of the lot in my opinion and featured the paintings from the artists being projected around the room whilst being animated to bring them to life with weather, movement, and an extended soundscape that enveloped the people in the room. Bean bags around the edge of the room were once again in evidence but I chose to sit on a bench in the middle of the room so I could see through 360ยบ.
A work that used the medium well was a fresco from Italy being brought to life and the main character walking all around the permitter of the room, before the walls started “cracking” and then a painting of Vesuvius erupting that seemed to project the feeling of heat and the danger of the lava streaming down the side of the volcano.
I had an emotional moment in this room too as the painting of J.M.W. Turner’s “The Fighting Temeraire” was animated on the main screen. I had a physical reaction to the sight as a story told to me by my Dad not long before he died recounted an experience he had as a child. He had told me that he’d stood in front of the famous Turner painting and began to cry. He couldn’t remember why he’d cried and what had caused it, but it is a story that stayed with me. Upon seeing this being projected onto the gymnasium sized room’s walls it had reminded me of him and the story and I wondered what he might make of this if he’d still been alive. I can’t imagine that he’d understand the technical side of the challenge but he’d definitely understand the reasons behind it and I’m sure he would have appreciated every second of the experience.
Another of my favourite images, although widely overused everywhere, is “Hokusai’s Great Wave Off Kanagawa”. Again the waves built up slowly throughout the show in this room crashing all around the borders and even across the floor, before a lighting storm and sounds of a windy environment helped to set the scene. Then the waves built up to the final image of the famous woodcut print. I say overused, as I have two shirts with the print on, the one I was wearing in this gallery was a Godzilla appearing from the waves, that I had bought in Osaka in June. The digital representation of the work still seemed able to keep the woodcut feel of the original.
Then it was time to take a look at anything else I’d missed and a small gallery by the bar had some dancing projections on the walls but it didn’t hold my attention for a long period.
Heading back upstairs and out of the building I turned to head to Marble Arch, then a short trip to Bond Street and a longer trip on the Jubilee line to Stanmore where I jumped in the car and began the three hour drive home to Shropshire. I was listening to a BBC Radio 4 Podcast called Screenshot which discusses movies, so I tuned in to this and the journey soon passed. Then once at home, time to dump my bags and head to bed ready for work the next day.
Reflection
Frameless was an interesting experience to visit and I saw a lot of people seemingly out on dates with glasses of wine just chilling in the atmosphere and chatting. It is a fascinating example of how AI can be used to animate still images, I think it’s AI. The soundscape and music all add their parts to the exhibits and enable the truly immersive experience. It was far more immersive than the Banksy Immersive experience of the morning at least.
The ability to experience art, outside of a frame, and in an immersive manner was fantastic also, and whilst I might not be bale to do something on this scale in a future show, maybe I can consider parts of it for my degree works that will need to be exhibited at the end of this year. Projection, animation, soundscapes and music could all be utilised to increase engagement with the works and I will bear this in mind as I move forwards through the next few months.
I would recommend this to people as a place to visit if they are in London. I went at 7pm which is Frameless Lates and there were fewer people there and absolutely zero kids. It was a grown up affair and I enjoyed it immensely. I was there for around 90 minutes and didn’t get bored at all. It was a good mental exercise to try and remember the artists and their works as parts of them appeared in front of your face.
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