Illusionarium at The Mercury

In January 2020 Level 3 of The Mercury was transformed into a dazzling sculpture trail, built and designed by Havering artists, residents and the Mercury Shopping Centre Team. 

Moving from a green ‘pod’ to a ‘cloud’, Illusionarium opened up ‘private areas’ of the shopping centre as well as creating unique spaces for members of the public to experience. The theme of the trail ‘Journey’ created a fun introduction to contemporary art for residents of Romford. Led by local arts Organisation ‘The NO Collective’, the ‘Illusionarium project’ has been designed and built by artists in collaboration with Havering College Students and The Mercury centre team.

The Artworks:

The Cloud was a dreamy experiential installation built by 'The NO Collective', ‘Bluerskies creatives’ and Havering College art students on level 4 of the centre. A space that has been unoccupied for 20 years, the purpose, to create an ultra -tangible environment for people to talk and connect in the colder months. 

Other installations include ‘Pop-Go’ which is a poignant light tunnel installation designed by artists through inspiration of Pop artist Peter Blake and built by and Martin Holland, The Mercury’s Maintenance Manager and ‘Figment’ an arrangement of colour designed by the ‘NO’ team as an showcase of the movement of light into the level. Both of these installations are now permanent features of the centre and can be viewed everyday on level 3.