"Light is only seen when reflected."

This deceptively simple observation forms the conceptual foundation of Light, a site-responsive installation commissioned for the courtyard of the international headquarters of Clarks Shoes.

Inspired by the phenomenon of light beams becoming visible only when scattered by airborne dust, the work imagines two shafts of light entering the courtyard and travelling through space. These imagined beams are made tangible by thousands of small reflective discs, suspended to catch and redirect sunlight across the surfaces of the courtyard. As daylight moves overhead, the discs cast shifting patterns of light, color, and shadow onto walls, floors, and previously unlit architectural surfaces.

By using the building’s own structure as a canvas, Light blurs the boundary between artwork and environment. It is not simply placed in the space — it completes it. The installation invites viewers to experience the courtyard not as a static architectural volume, but as a dynamic field of reflection, movement, and visual transformation. The reflected fragments of sky that dance across the interior walls bring natural light and color into the deepest parts of the building — areas normally untouched by the sun. In doing so, Light becomes both a spatial intervention and a quiet celebration of phenomena we often overlook: the play of light, the passing of time, and the invisible forces that shape what we see.

Goals

To bring light and life into the damp, dark central courtyard of Clark Shoes headquarters in South England. The courtyard is the social heart of the offices.