No matter how big the pile of matted-hair Sindy dolls became, or how many times the cuddly rabbits spawned new additions to their floppy-eared family, the most exciting toy at my grandmother’s house was always the kaleidoscope. The bashed-up metal tube that smelled a bit dodgy housed an entire galaxy of exploding atoms and falling stars. In a word: magic.
Saatchi Gallery’s group exhibition of the same name is a pretty similar deal. Spread across five rooms, this contemporary art toy box is crammed with the paintings, photography and sculptures of nine artists. But it’s hard to conjure the same level of enthusiasm for the whole lot as it is for Laura Buckley’s ‘Fata Morgana’, the exhibition’s centrepiece.
Buckley’s human-scaled kaleidoscope is, to put it simply, a wooden tube lined with mirrors that’s open at one end. Visitors take their shoes off and, tentatively, step inside it.
First impression? A bit underwhelming. I mean, it’s just a mirrored tube and the panels look a bit wonky. I’m scared I might break one. Then the projections start – a mixture of video footage often shot in close-up that includes eerie scenes from near the sea.
It’s cool, but is it cool enough? You stare at the screen, then you stare directly up and then you stare directly down and… WHOA!! YOU’RE INSIDE A KALEIDOSCOPE!! An actual kaleidoscope! You’re a part of that ever-expanding Milky Way of orbiting moons and crater-covered planets! This is great. Really great.
Of the mixed-bag rest, the highlight is easily Tillman Kaiser. The artist’s geometrical sculptures and wall-based works find their echo in the shattered half-shapes of the kaleidoscope’s insides. Swirls of tiny faces and rows of eyes reoccur as though you’re staring at an everyday scene through a shattered prism.
It’s a fun show, but it just has some real lowlights. Go for the kaleidoscope, stay for the kaleidoscope and then skip forward to the very last room before heading home.