Relay – King’s Cross
RELAY, developed for the King’s Cross development, was a series of commissions which appeared as this new cityscape unfolded.
RELAY was launched in 2011 with IFO by Jacques Rival, an over-sized illuminated birdcage with a swing for humans. It then featured two temporary artworks by Felice Varini and Richard Wentworth.
RELAY referenced the key points at which parts of the development shifted from being brownfield land to an active building site, and then in turn from a construction site to a functioning public space. The successive artworks signified the articulation of this new district as it started to connect with the rest of London.
RELAY also alluded to the extraordinary connectivity of the area and its remarkable heritage: in the 19C, with the construction of the Regent’s Canal and the Midlands Railways terminus, King’s Cross became London’s most significant goods exchange.