Covent Garden now full of 100,000 white balloons

The balloons have been moved in over the last few days ahead of the official opening of an art installation on August 27 
Pulse: the balloons throb with white light
FTP Edelman
David Ellis @dvh_ellis27 August 2015

Covent Garden is now full of 100,000 white balloons, as part of an art installation by the French artist Charles Pétillon.

The balloons, which are all individually sized, took 25 people five nights to blow up to size. Throughout yesterday and today, they were guided into place in the Grade II listed South Hall. They mark the first time Mr Pétillon has publically displayed his work outside of France. He told the Standard: "It’s the first time I have done a public installation and it felt right to position it in a capital city like London, New York, Paris or Berlin. When the opportunity with Covent Garden arose and we saw how great the space was, we were really happy and excited. London is a great city for artists."

The artwork will officially be open from August 27 and will stay in place for a month, before being dismantled.

Pulses of light will run through the project, which is called Heartbeat. Mr Pétillon said: “With Heartbeat I wanted to represent the Market Building as the beating heart of this area – connecting its past with the present day to allow visitors to re-examine its role at the heart of London’s life.

"The installation signifies how Covent Garden is the heart of the city. I want people to have an immersive experience, to get lost in the installation and lose the notion of time. I hope that it will encourage people to view the iconic space in a new light."

Heartbeat at Covent Garden

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The balloons cover much of the roof space in the popular spot, measuring 54 metres in length and 12 metres in width. They weigh a total of 320kg, which is roughly equivalent to three baby elephants.

Discussing how balloons have become his artistic motif , Mr Pétillonsaid: "The goal of my work is to use the balloons in a poetic way to ask questions about the space in which they are placed, so that the viewer considers the space from a new perspective. There are many layers you could go into, but the idea was to make it simple and accessible so that anyone can take their own meaning from it. The response will naturally be different whether you are a child, adult or art director – that is the beauty of the balloons’ simplicity."

A pop-up gallery on the Piazza will show more of Pétillon's work, including his Invasions photographs, which show his other balloon pieces, and some of his other work.

Follow David Ellis on Twitter @dvh_ellis

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