Omer Arbel’s 44 installation for the Barbican’s Lightwell

The latest site-specific light installation for the Barbican’s Lightwell space has been created by Omer Arbel, the creative director of the Vancouver and Berlin-based design and manufacturing company, Bocci.

Over 300 ‘free-poured’ aluminium forms hang in the space, with lights appearing to float between them. The lightbulbs are in fact magnetically suspended between the metallic structures, say the Barbican, while a low voltage current runs through the entire work (check out the film of the installation, below).

“To visualise the piece, Arbel used archive photographs of the Barbican’s construction taken by Peter Bloomfield, creating collages of photos and renderings to present open-ended representations of his ideas,” say the institution. “Having been inspired by him, Arbel has invited 85 year old Bloomfield back to the Barbican to photograph 44’s installation.”

44 is part of the London Design Festival and will be on display at the Barbican until April 2017. More on the Barbican’s Foyer installations at barbican.org.uk