Almost Everybody

Almost Everybody was conceived and made especially for the main entrance lobby of Gasholders London, a residential building by WilkinsonEyre architects. It consists of 40 handmade glass lamps in 5 different colors, suspended from the lobby ceiling in interwoven clusters.

The lamps are based on a drop shape and vary in size and volume, emphasizing their handmade character. The artist’s intention was to make a connection with the restored cast-iron frames of the original gas holders (within which the building sits) whilst complementing the contemporary design of the lobby space.

This is an interactive work, which depends on its inhabitants to be fully realised. Only four of the five clusters of lights are on at any one time and the use of sensors connected to the entrance doors of the lobby means that the particular mix of illuminated clusters changes every time someone enters or leaves the building. The intervention echoes the general function of the lobby as a space for welcome and farewell with the building reacting to the arrival or departure of each person with this subtle change of ambience.

About the artist
Tobias Rehberger (born 1966 Esslingen am Neckar, Germany) is a German sculptor. He studied under Thomas Bayrle and Martin Kippenberger at the Stadelschule in Frankfurt am Main, where he now teaches. Rehberger is considered to be one of the most important German artists of his generation. His futuristic installations that command light, space, furniture and graphics create interactive environments for viewers. His work plays of unexpected encounters and teases out possibilities for social, even utopian, development. Stripes cover walls in the manner of hazard signs yet the the effect is more energising that halting. The gaps between communication and understanding are explored, and his works have been cited as giving ‘a reason to slow down and reacquaint ourselves with a once common sight… and contemplate what else we have left behind’.

Rehberger’s work has been exhibited internationally at institutions including Palais de Tokyo, the Walker Art Center, and Tate Liverpool, the Venice Biennale, and the Manifesta Biennale.

Commissioned by Argent/King’s Cross Limited Partnership