Underworld (v)

Permanent installation in the Unicorn children's theatre, placing a LED screen under the foyer's floor displaying another world

In 2005, Cotterrell was commissioned by the Unicorn Theatre to develop Underworld, a permanent installation for the company’s new home in Tooley Street, London. Developed in discussion with Keith Williams Architects as an integral element in the foyer of the building, the work is a constantly evolving algorithmically generated urban environment. It is an alternate virtual space that meets with the physical architecture of the Unicorn through a floor-level illuminated screen.

Although looking down from below, the viewer’s perspective is optically correct while suggesting that the images below are actually overhead. Rendered in real-time, the cityscapes develop and disintegrate in rapid succession, referencing competing twentieth century theories of urban design and town planning. Like a digital magic well, new worlds appears on what seems to be the other side of a flat earth, defying scientific knowledge within a virtual landscape. The work was developed as part of a three-year consultation between the Unicorn and Tower Bridge Primary School.

Materials:

Armari PC, Custom Software and iLite LED screen

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