[IGNEA LABS]
DRAWING NO. 003-RPSCALE 1:200LAT 51.5055 / LON −0.1160
REALIZEDREALIZED BY A STUDIO PRINCIPAL PRIOR TO IGNEA LABS

RAINBOW PARK

Adam Kalinowski · 2012 · Southbank Centre, London

I

DESCRIPTION

A walk-in landscape of coloured sand laid across roughly 50 × 7 m of the Queen's Walk, between the London Eye and Tate Modern, for Southbank Centre's Festival of the World, curated by Cathy Mager. It was open from 16 June to 9 September 2012.

The work used 150 tonnes of coloured and natural quartz sand in gradations from 0.5 to 5 mm, with around 25 painted boulders serving as seating. Visitors walked it barefoot and mixed the colours underfoot, so the piece changed continuously and never returned to its original state.

This is the precedent for large-scale public delivery, crowd volume and safe barefoot public interaction. Southbank Centre estimated 7.8 million people passed through the site over the three months, a demonstration that a participatory, physically alterable artwork can be maintained safely at civic scale for a full season.

Rainbow Park seen from above along the Thames, with visitors crossing bands of colored sand.
RAINBOW PARK, Adam Kalinowski, 2012, Southbank Centre, London. Overview from Queen's Walk. Photograph: B. Lawley.
Children and adults sitting and playing in blue, violet and red sand at Rainbow Park beside the Thames.
RAINBOW PARK, Adam Kalinowski, 2012, Southbank Centre, London. Public interaction and painted-boulder seating. Photograph: Adam Kalinowski.
A child playing in the coloured sand of Rainbow Park at the Southbank Centre, London, 2012.
RAINBOW PARK, Adam Kalinowski, 2012, Southbank Centre, London. Press image via BBC News, 15 June 2012.
Visitors playing among coloured sand, tiered wooden structures and painted boulders at Rainbow Park on the South Bank, London.
RAINBOW PARK, Adam Kalinowski, 2012, Southbank Centre, London. Public interaction and tiered wooden structures.
II

SPECIFICATION

AS BUILT
ARTIST
Adam Kalinowski
YEAR
2012
DATES
16 June – 9 September 2012
LOCATION
Queen's Walk, between the London Eye and Tate Modern, London
COMMISSIONER
Southbank Centre, Festival of the World
CURATOR
Cathy Mager
DIMENSIONS
Approx. 50 × 7 m
MATERIALS
150 tonnes of coloured and natural quartz sand, gradations 0.5–5 mm; approx. 25 painted boulders as seating
FOOTFALL
Southbank Centre estimated 7.8 million people passed through the site over three months
III

INSTITUTIONAL RECORD

SEEKING

Host sites, fabrication partners, and funding across the United States, especially communities affected by extreme dryness, heat, and air pollution.

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