The Archway Tower in North London is the subject of artist Ruth Ewan’s new installation “How to Make Archway Tower Disappear.” The innovative project is powered by INITION’s ‘diminished reality’ software which removes the building, allowing local residents to view Archway’s cityscape without the tower block which currently dominates the skyline.
As far as we know, this is the first ever live ‘diminished reality’ skyline execution open to the public. The temporary viewer is a retro-style seaside telescope situated on the corner of Holloway Road and St John’s Grove, London N19. Participants look through the telescope to view a live view with Archway Tower subtracted from the skyline.
The 59m tall 1960’s office bloc is considered to be an eyesore amongst some local residents and its future is uncertain following the departure of the Ministry of Justice just three weeks ago. This publicly sited project by artist Ruth Ewan consists of two elements; the viewer and an accompanying artist’s book containing accounts of the tower from people who have worked in it, visited it, looked at it, and considered its relationship to the place and people of Archway and London.
The project was commissioned by Alight, a joint initiative between AIR at Central Saint Martins College of Arts & Design and Islington Council and was supported by the Mayor’s Outer London Fund.
Stuart Cupit, Co-Founder at Inition said:”It was very rewarding to work on this ground-breaking project with Ruth Ewan. It is our first ever diminished reality project and an interesting new concept to subtract from, rather than augment, reality. We hope that this real-time visual illusion will be useful in progressing the debate about the future of Archway Tower.”
Read more about the Archway Tower here.
Find out more about the artist, Ruth Ewan here.