Flotilla

‘Flotilla’ is a multi-part light installation floating on the canal basin at Merchant Square, Paddington. The installation comprises around 180 origami boats of varying scales, lit internally. The volume of boats recalls the basin’s historical origins. Acting as a swarm, by night the mass of boats creates a graduated pool of colour across the entire site. The colours graduate from the island garden outwards. The overall colours changing at an almost imperceptibly slow speed such that the colours are constantly changing but only noticeable over a period of half an hour.

By day, the installation reverts to a mass of pure white ‘paper’ boats. The boats vary in size - from 45cm to around a metre in length - to add texture and are positioned in an apparently random fashion reminiscent of a flowering meadow. Each boat is individually anchored in place enabling the boats to react to the movement of the water and wind.