Trav'ller in the Dark (Smile) - 31 March 2015

Although it was not obvious from a distance, the central feature of this photograph taken against the background of a long abandoned building in Portsmouth is, in fact, a light sculpture 'Trav'ller in the Dark' by S Mark Gubb.

The piece is installed, improbably, on the roof of The Hard Interchange building and struck me as badly conceived. An accompanying placard bears some of the most pretentious and misconceived wording I have seen in art proclaiming that "this light sculpture has been designed to encourage you to stop and reflect. and going on to inform the reader, even more improbably, that The work draws on the tale of The Sword of Damocles, the moral of which cautions 'be careful what you wish for' and 'with great power comes great responsibility'. The changing text, currently 'Smile', is part controlled by the artist but suggestions are invited from the public.

The work has been commissioned by art gallery aspex but the operators of the Interchange building have shown poor priorities in allowing it to be irrelevantly displayed here. For as long as I can remember, a roof terrace on the building, which would be ideal for photography of the area, has been closed on the grounds, I understand, that they can not afford its supervision.

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