We sat down with Sam Bompas of creative studio Bompas And Parr to find out more about the installation at Jubilee Place mall
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In celebration of the launch of Eden Dock, Canary Wharf Group has commissioned creative studio Bompas And Parr to create an installation at Jubilee Place.
You can head over there right now and see it.
what’s going on?
Billed as the world’s first Bioluminescent Flower Parlour, visitors are invited to step inside to see photographic work from Maggie West’s Ultraviolet series as well as plants that have been specially prepared to respond to UV light and fluoresce.
tell us more, Bompas And Parr…
“Maggie’s one of my all-time heroes, photographers and artists,” said Sam Bompas, co-founder of Bompas And Parr.
“Her approach really is extraordinary.
“I find, with her artwork, it makes me look again at all plants, not just hers, to re-enchant the everyday.
“She was working over in London, and she came along to one of our future-food reports, which is about how we bring the future into the present – I was immediately scrabbling around for an opportunity to collaborate, and this is it.”
Her images use ultraviolet light and fluorescent ink to illuminate the process in which plants absorb water.
She photographed white flowers absorbing fluorescent ink under black lights, with her time lapse photography process revealing the hidden pathways that flowers use to sustain life.
no, about the glowing flowers?
Oh, right. Well there are a selection of flowers and plants on show. Visitors get given a UV torch to help them explore the exhibition.
“At Bompas, we do have a history of making things glow,” said Sam, whose studio is best known for its work in artistic edibles.
“We started with glow-in-the-dark jelly, but this is our first foray into glowing flowers.
“Some have a residual fluorescence, others are UV-reactive.
“We’ve never done this before and, as far as I can understand, it’s the world’s first glow-in-the-dark flower parlour, but, if you’re creating food and drink installations, flowers and floreography has a very important role to play, not least the table dressings.
“In Victorian times they would use paper flowers for the table dressings, because they wanted them to be completely odourless, so they would not interfere with your enjoyment and appreciation of the food.
“We have worked with flowers before – at Kew Gardens, for example, where we were making a giant golden pineapple on a boating lake.
“We’ve also make a bio-responsive garden, where flowers track people’s motions and mimic them.
“More recently in Melbourne, there’s a sentient forest, where you’ll recall the speaking forests of childhood, when plants know where you were and follow your footsteps and creep up on you.
“One of the things I love now is that we’re living in the science fiction world I read about and imagined in childhood.
“With this project, we’re drawing a little bit of a future, which you can come to in Canary Wharf and take home.”
how did it come about?
“We’ve been long time correspondents with and enthusiasts for Canary Wharf and we’re often asking what they’ve got coming down the line – important moments to celebrate on the estate,” said Sam.
“This sits within Canary Wharf’s wider partnership with The Eden Project – focussing very heavily on greening the site and the launch of Eden Dock.
“Every time I visit the estate, it looks more utopian.
“I’m really impressed with how the area’s developing– becoming energetic and blossoming. Hopefully, we’re a small contribution to that.
“The inspiration for the installation was Mental Health Awareness Day earlier this month. We know looking at nature can have an impact.
“When you look at a red or yellow plant, for instance, you’re immediately uplifted and feel more positive about the world.
“What we really want is to give people a sense of awe and wonder when they consider nature, the cosmos and their place in it.
“Then, through our installation, they can pay closer attention to that.”
where is it?
You’ll find the Bioluminescent Flower Parlour by Bompas And Parr in the back of the Wharf Farm pop-up, down the escalator from Obica in the West Wintergarden at Canary Wharf.
when’s it on?
You’ll need to be quick, the installation is already in place and will be open from 10am-2pm until October 19, 2024, and then again from October 22-23.
does it cost anything?
Entry is free, however visitors may wish to purchase glow-in-the-dark blooms with prices starting at £12.50.
“You can surprise your friends, your loved ones or just yourself with flowers that genuinely glow in the dark,” said Sam.
“My favourites are the tiny, freeze-stabilised roses that look almost like jewels.
“You can charge them up with any source of light and they glow and linger on and on.
“They’re hauntingly spectral.”
key details: Bompas And Parr Bioluminescent Flower Parlour
Catch the Bioluminescent Flower Parlour by Bompas And Parr from 10am-2pm until October 19, 2024, and then again from October 22-23.
Entry is free and UV torches are supplied as part of the experience.
Find the installation at Level -1 in Jubilee Place.
Find out more about the Bioluminescent Flower Parlour here
Read more: Canary Wharf unveils Eden Dock at the heart of the estate
Read Wharf Life’s e-edition here
Subscribe to our free Wharf Whispers newsletter here
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
