The Now Gallery at North Greenwich has always taken pride in displaying art installations that are bold, thought provoking and more often than not suspended from the ceiling like “The Iris” where 10,000 fresh irises were suspended from copper wire in 2017.
We were intrigued as we queued patiently for their latest offering “Slices of Time” by French Artist, Emmanuelle Moureaux. The artwork is akin to stepping into a traditional sweet shop with rows and rows of huge jars filled with brightly coloured sugared treats. This splendid rainbow installation composed of 168,000 7cm high numbers in 100 shades of both colour and white is as chaotic as it is beautifully ordered. Each number has been hand glued onto individual silky gossamer threads like soft falling butterflies.
Visitors are encouraged to view the installation in its entirety from a balcony above, to appreciate the scale and enormity of the work and then descend the stairs and get up close with each individual colourful slice. At times, it felt like we were standing on the edge of a giant super computer that was analysing, sorting, summarising, calculating, disseminating and spewing out reams and reams of rainbow coloured numerical data. A feeling of absolute insignificance.
When you visit, paper is available to write a significant date in coloured pen and say why it’s important. Each date will be placed onto the window of the gallery to form a kaleidoscopic timeline of significant dates. A moment to pause and think of time so close to Meridian Line at nearby Greenwich Park.
We visited for a Private View the night before the official opening and we were treated not only to a range of cocktails and canapes but “Slices of Music” pieces for solo violin performed by members of the Clod Ensemble that perfectly accompanied this incredible artwork.
Slices of Time runs from 5th February-17th April 2020 and is free. A wonderfully uplifting artwork that makes you think differently about how we view time particularly on a very cold February evening.
Travelling renders you speechless then transforms you into a story teller 
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