Power Plant, A Sound and Light Experience

“You will feel like Alice in Wonderland” said my colleague Julia when sharing her enthusiasm about Power Plant with me this morning. My expectations were set, I wanted to get into another world.

The place is the Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, the time is right after dusk. There’s a long line in front of me, everyone is waiting to be accepted through the gate, “Tickets for 9:20 could you please move forward”, they accept visitors per 10 minute slots, “for health and safety reasons” explains the young lady controlling the times on each ticket. “I’m going mental with this health and safety!” says her colleague who just sent one group of 50 people inside the Glasshouses. The logistics all seem to be running well, “We will now take the 9:40 tickets ladies and gentlemen”, and yes, it is me, I’m going through the gates for a few more seconds of waiting on the other side. Before they let us in, we’re informed that this will not be a guided tour and that once inside, we can do as we please, take the ways we want “as long as there is no sign, water or a barrier stopping you”. I’m not in yet and I already feel I’ve escaped the real world.


As I enter the glasshouse, I move into a space where insects and flowers have been replaced by electric neons, lights and sounds. Red light, green light, white light, blinking lights, dancing lights… all surround the plants and show me multiple ways I can take. Power Plant is the world of Mark Anderson, Anne Bean, Ulf Pedersen, Jony Easterby and Kirsten Reynolds, genius creators of the twenty two installations to be seen across the Botanical Gardens. In these worlds gramophones and disco balls are hidden in the trees, rootless strawberries are lying on soil, snails take on psychedelic forms, torn dresses hang up immense water lilies, fire plays music, feathers are dancing, flowers are kinetic… All are filling the various spaces across the gardens in perfect harmony with the plants surrounding them. Some of the flora was so powerful in itself, like the horse tail or the lonely trees at the end of the trail, the artists didn’t need more than a colorful light projection to emphasize their dramatic personae. You can get lost in Power Plant, you can feel overwhelmed by the surrounding energy and you definitely move into another dimension where you’re free to chose the level(s) you indulge in.

Until 30 August, Botanical Gardens. http://www.powerplant.org.uk/