Set up on a derelict site in the centre of Dalston, Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich has created a new eye-bending illusion, the ‘Dalston House’.
The ‘Dalston House’ is a reproduction of the frontage of a typical three-storey London house which has been commissioned by the Barbican as part of the London Festival of Architecture 2013. What’s special about it is that while the recreated frontage lies flat on the ground, a huge mirror suspended above it at a 45 degree angle creates a strange optical illusion – people climbing around on the surface appear to be scaling the building itself, perching on window ledges and hanging by their finger tips from the eaves!
This is just the latest of a series of similar projects by Erlich, and it’s already proved to be wildly popular with the locals – turning up at about 3pm earlier in the week there was already a huge queue of people waiting to experience this weird piece of urban art. I’m told by the security guard that if you don’t want to hang around for too long then turning up at 11am, when the exhibit opens, is the best time to get over there and start putting together your very own Spiderman movie…
Here’s a link to a map of the area showing you exactly where you’ll find the ‘Dalston House’ if you want to go along – it will remain in place until 4 August 2013.