For the majority of its patrons, King’s Cross St. Pancras Underground Station is a badly designed labyrinth, a chore to navigate and, on the whole, best avoided. However, the pain that comes from being dragged along its undercurrent of tourists and commuters could soon be relieved after tonight’s unveiling of Full Circle (below) by Norwegian Knut Henrik Henriksen, the first permanent artwork to be installed on the network since Paolozzi’s mosaics at Tottenham Court Road in 1984.
The size and form of Henriksen’s sculpture is frequently defined by such architectural specificities as the height, depth and materials of a given location. These become starting points for his work and in this case the circular end wall of the concourse tunnel is the origin of his concept. The circle is truncated where it meets the floor, implying a ‘lost’ segment of circle beneath. This segment has been ‘reinstated’, conceptually exhumed by Henriksen, and mounted as an integral architectural feature of the end wall. It has been fabricated from the same material as the wall itself (shot-peened stainless steel), which gives it the look of a minimalist relief: a subtle, elegant work in metallic grey.
Henriksen’s practise draws on a powerful preoccupation with architecture and, to some extent, the continuing influence of 20th century Modernism on contemporary art and architecture alike. This makes him an ideal person to work with Art On The Underground; after all, during the 1930s, London Underground’s Managing Director Frank Pick was so inspired by European Modernist ideals that he champion the unifying principle of ‘Total Design’ which saw concepts such as the Roundel, the Tube map, the Johnston typeface, plus posters and station designs join together to become the present day’s London Underground’s world renowned identity.
Full Circle has been created as part of the King’s Cross station upgrade which will see two new ticket halls and several new pedestrian tunnels constructed to cater for growing numbers of Tube passengers. The next station due for upgrade is Tottenham Court Road which will benefit from a new piece of commissioned work by French abstract minimalist Daniel Buren.
Daisy Hutchison
