Royal West of England Academy; A new Luke Jerram installation

When I heard of a new installation at the Royal West of England Academy by Luke Jerram, I was intrigued by what this "multidisciplinary artist whose practice involves the creation of sculptures, installations and live artworks" would create. The designer in me kicked in and I Immediately imagined something of the scale and presence of the Anish installation at Tate Modern entitled Marsyas in 2002 or something with the intellectual rigour of Ribbons in Leeds by Pippa Hale in 2024, and excitedly proceeded to the academy.

Luke is known for his large-scale installations and public interventions such as Giai, Museum of the Moon, Park and Slide (where the public were encouraged to use a large foam filled slide down a busy street in Bristol) and In Memoriam, all intended to “excite and inspire people around the world”

Entitled” Negotiating Space” the installation is described as a 'large-scale experimental drawing' intended to “create connections between civic spaces”.

“RWA were looking for an art intervention, that would help celebrate and advertise their latest textiles exhibition inside the building. This artwork is both a simple sculptural intervention of the space outside the museum and an experimental three-dimensional drawing. It’s been great fun, developing this new experimental project with the team. We’re literally taking a line, for a walk!”

RWA director Ren Renwick said: “This is one of the RWA’s most ambitious – and longest – artworks to date and we are so proud to present it. I love its invitation to come inside and discover the RWA, and the way it connects the RWA to our neighbours and the public realm around us.

it is in reality a 1000m long pink ribbon that joins a few architectural features on the front of the academy, then enters through windows before running through the galleries. Unfortunately, the installation is focussed almost entirely on the RWA, barely touches adjoining buildings and fails to connect with anything else other than nearby lampposts and trees.

As a first-year architectural project, this would barely pass. As the work of an artist working internationally, irrespective of budget, it is a piss-poor effort. Bristol deserves better and thankfully it’s been removed.

Luke Jerram;2025-a 'large-scale experimental drawing' intended to “create connections between civic spaces”

Anish Kapoor : Marsyas: 2002 in Tate Modern turbine hall: image take from Tate Modern web site as "fair use"

This literally create connections between spaces both physically and intellectually