You may have noticed strange labyrinth like posters/artworks around the underground over the last year these where part of a public art work produced by Mark Wallinger and now there is a new book coming
out that documents it.
Labyrinth: A Journey Through London’s Underground by Mark Wallinger, edited by Louise Coysh, with contributions by Tamsin Dillon, Will Self, Mark Wallinger, Marina Warner, Christian Wolmar, is published by Art / Books in association with Art on the Underground on 6 October 2014, £24.99 hardback, www.artbookspublishing.co.uk
A Limited edition is also available: Edition of 270 copies, each with a unique bookplate, one per London Underground station, signed by the artist, launch price £95.00.
Commissioned in 2013 by Art on the Underground to mark London Underground’s 150th anniversary, Labyrinth saw the creation of a vast, permanent work of public art across the entire network, layered with rich cultural and historical references. In each of the Underground’s 270 stations, Wallinger placed a uniquely designed labyrinth, an ancient symbol representing spiritual and imaginative voyages akin to the countless circuitous journeys made on the Tube.
Labyrinth: A Journey Through London’s Underground, published by Art/Books, is a compelling record of this extraordinary project, as well as a vivid celebration of the London Underground and of London itself. Alongside striking new photographs of all 270 labyrinths in situ, and fascinating facts about each station and their surrounds, the publication contains a number of original essays on the project.
Novelist Will Self responds to Wallinger’s piece with a personal reflection that takes us into the depths of memory and through the disorientating effects of urban life; while writer and academic Marina Warner, in conversation with the artist, explores the historic and mythological significance of the labyrinth and places the project in the context of Wallinger’s practice. Transport historian Christian Wolmar tells the story of the emergence and development of London’s subterranean rail network and the important role it has played in shaping the metropolis and those who live in it.
Much more than a document of the creation of a work of art, this book is also a unique portrait of a system that keeps London going, the very lifeblood upon which it depends and thrives. The publication is also available in a limited edition of 270 copies, each with a unique bookplate, one per London Underground station, each signed by the artist.
Contributors
Thierry Bal is a Belgian photographer based in London. He has worked on projects in collaboration with and for numerous contemporary artists, publications, galleries and organizations worldwide.
Louise Coysh is Senior Curator for Art on the Underground.
Tamsin Dillon was the Head of Art on the Underground from 2005 to 2014. She is currently interim Head of Exhibitions and Displays at Tate Liverpool.
Will Self is an English author and journalist. He is the author of nine novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and five collections of non-fiction writing. He is a regular contributor to Playboy, Guardian, Harpers, New York Times and the London Review of Books. He currently writes two fortnightly columns for New Statesman, and has been a columnist for the Observer, The Times and the Evening Standard.
Mark Wallinger, born in Chigwell, Essex, in 1959, is one of the UK’s leading contemporary artists. He was awarded the 2007 Turner Prize, having previously been nominated in 1995. He represented Great Britain at the 2001 Venice Biennale, and has held solo exhibitions at the Serpentine Gallery in London, Tate Liverpool, Vienna Secession, Museum for Gegenwartskunst in Basel and Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels. His work has recently been the subject of a major survey at the Museum de Pont in the Netherlands (2011), and his latest solo exhibition, ‘SITE’, took place in 2012 at Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead. His work is displayed in the collections of many important international museums including Tate, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
Marina Warner is a writer of fiction, criticism and history, and has also curated several exhibitions. Her works include novels, short stories and studies of art, myths, symbols and fairy tales. She has won numerous awards for her writings and was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2000. She is currently Professor in the Department of English at Birkbeck College, London and a fellow at All Souls College, Oxford.
Christian Wolmar is a British journalist, author, politician and railway historian. His books include The Subterranean Railway: A History of the London Underground (2005), Fire and Steam: A New History of the Railways in Britain (2007) and To the Edge of the World (2013). The Great Railway Revolution, on the history of the American railroads, was published in 2012.
Rose is an award-winning design studio based in London. Its work has been recognized by more than 75 international creative awards, most recently a silver award for the Most Awarded?Design Agency 2014 at the world-renowned D&AD Awards. Its work on the Labyrinth project has already been awarded several international awards. It is ranked in the top 25 creative branding agencies?in the world.
