The Belle Époque Today: The Art of Mat Collishaw

The Magic Lantern
V&A

In 2010, in an effort to engage the entire city of London with the architecture of their museum, The Victoria & Albert Museum, commissioned artist Mat Collishaw to create a monumental animation that would illuminate the building and provide added artistic-interest on a large scale.


Collishaw created an enormous zoetrope which he calls, “The Magic Lantern.” The Magic Lantern projects a series of rapidly-cycled images which create the illusion of movement atop the museum. The display creates the effect of dozens of enormous moths flocking around a lantern in the museum’s cupola. At dusk, each night, the zoetrope is started, allowing viewers from many angles and long distances to witness the enchanting show.

Midnight Icarus
V&A

Collishaw rose to prominence as an artist in the 1990’s for his clever use of film and light in his artistic installations. For this installation, he also created a smaller replica of the magic lantern which can be viewed during the day in the interior garden of the V&A.

The Magic Lantern will be active through the end of March, 2011 and can be seen from Cromwell and Exhibition Roads and from the South Kensington tube.