Art on the Underground is a pioneer in commissioning contemporary artworks that enrich millions of journeys on London’s Tube network every day. Over the last 20 years it has curated an impressive selection of artists – including Trevor Paglen, David Shrigley, Chiho Aoshima, and Heather Phillipson – maintaining art as a central element of Transport for London’s identity, and engaging passengers and staff in a sense of shared ownership.
Most notably, Gloucester Road station’s disused eastbound platform is the backdrop for a rolling programme of four exhibitions a year, featuring murals or sculptures located in the brick recesses of the northern retaining wall.
UK lighting manufacturer Pulsar devised a comprehensive low-energy LED scheme to light the sections within the nineteen decorative arches along the platform, and chose Pharos as the dedicated control system.
Pulsar ChromaBatten 200s provide illumination from the ground to the top of each arch, with a further specialist solution used (to meet the demands of London Underground’s subsurface station safety regulations) to add highlights.
Pulsar was also appointed to programme and commission the project. To sympathetically showcase the artwork to Gloucester Road’s commuters, they chose a Pharos LPC (Lighting Playback Controller) to control all the fixtures. Its comprehensive control with independently running timelines and scenes allow the team to create dynamic, precise, fully customisable pre-programmed lighting effects, which are easy to change for future installations.
An elegant TPC (Touch Panel controller) – located nearby for easy manual interfacing – completes the project.
Project team:
Lighting Design: JPLD
Artist: Trevor Paglen
