The Wapping Project mounts its final exhibition, 'The Lady From the Sea'

A black and white image of a sea wave
The Wapping Project closes its doors with an epic photography exhibition by Thomas Zanon-Larcher, a longtime collaborator of impresario Jules Wright
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'The Lady from the Sea', was shot over ten days in Longyearbyen

The photo essay, titled 'The Lady from the Sea', was shot over ten days in Longyearbyen, on the island of Svalbard, above the Arctic Circle

(Image credit: press)

The Lady and the Sea

It is a modern interpretation of 'The Lady and the Sea', a 1888 play by Henrik Ibsen

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Zanon-Larcher's version was conceived and presented like a film

Zanon-Larcher's version was conceived and presented like a film

(Image credit: press)

The central character is Ellida, played by British model Lianna Fowler

The central character is Ellida, played by British model Lianna Fowler

(Image credit: press)

Zanon-Larcher shot the action - the romantic tussles, the mushing huskies, even the love-making - on still film while the static panoramas get the celluloid treatment

Zanon-Larcher shot the action - the romantic tussles, the mushing huskies, even the love-making - on still film while the static panoramas get the celluloid treatment

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

The story unfolds through a progression of tightly improvised scenes

The story unfolds through a progression of tightly improvised scenes

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Patrick O'Brien plays 'the Stranger'

Ellida's husband, the middle-aged Dr Wangel, is played by Angus Wright, while Patrick O'Brien plays 'the Stranger' (pictured) who completes the story's love triangle. Ellida 'turns her moral fortitude into a metaphor for all young women trapped within the suffocating constraints of small town politics, but who find the strength to rebel against its empty conventions,' says Jules Wright

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Wright directed the mise-en-scene

Wright directed the mise-en-scene

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According to Wright, the clothing is largely the actors' own, and the furnishings 'were exactly as we found them'

According to Wright, the clothing is largely the actors' own, and the furnishings 'were exactly as we found them'

(Image credit: press)

A moment of reflection inside one of the log cabins

A moment of reflection inside one of the log cabins

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Wapping Project

The still shots are broadcast in a chilled hut at the Wapping Project, viewed from a bench piled with blankets

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Even the wedding scene is fraught

Even the wedding scene is fraught

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groom and bride

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Groom and Bride

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

The water

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Lady on the ship

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man on ship

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

The man standing near the sea

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man on the ship

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A scenic view

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

An image with a man and a chopper

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Image of a dock

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A scenic view

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

The man and woman sitting together

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man and woman sitting together

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman lying on the bed

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in a single frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man sitting on the couch

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man walking down the lane

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man walking

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man climbing the stairs

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in one frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Sitting benches to enjoy the view

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman standing facing the sea

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman standing

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A building under construction

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in one frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man on top of the hill

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

a man staring out of the window

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man sitting on stairs

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man standing on the staircase

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in one frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman eating something

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman sitting near the window

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man in the living room

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman having coffee

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in one frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman on the bed

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man walking with the dog

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man standing near the table

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A scenic view

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in one frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

The snow-clad mountains

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

The man and woman standing near the building entrance

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

The snow mountain

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man and woman running in an open field

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman sitting on the stairs

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in one frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man standing near the sea

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A scenic view

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

The man with the dogs

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

The man and dogs

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in one frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A naked woman

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man near the window.

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man and woman

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man and woman

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in one frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man and woman

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man and woman

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman sitting on the bed

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man sitting sitting in an open space

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Different images in one frame

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

Two men standing near the tent

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man having drink

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman walking in between the snowy mountains

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A woman walking in between the snowy mountain

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man and woman standing on the road

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man and woman standing on the road

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A man and woman on the road

(Image credit: Zanon-Larcher)

A black and white scenic view

The final frame, incongruous in black and white, is 'a memory of what life was,' says Wright. An apt metaphor for the Wapping Project itself

(Image credit: press)

Jules Wright and Thomas Zanon-Larcher did not intend for 'The Lady from the Sea' to be their swan song at the Wapping Project, the defunct hydraulic power station Wright has been running as an art-event-dining space since the 1990s. The decision to close the space and concentrate on the satellite gallery Wapping Bankside happened suddenly this autumn, after the bulk of the shoot had wrapped (after a ten-year germination), but this contemporary reenactment of the bleak 1888 play by Henrik Ibsen is a stunning farewell. 

The duo have transformed the already damp, murky hall into the harsh terrain of Longyearbyen, Norway, the Svalbard Island community that was the setting for their redux. They've turned down the thermostat, spread actual permafrost across the floor and built replicas of the ramshackle wood huts they encountered up north. It even smells remarkably of reindeer. Piped in is an Arctic gale of a soundtrack by Billy Cowie.

This all lays the groundwork for Zanon-Larcher's ambitious photography essay, captured over ten days in Norway last summer. A hodgepodge of screens near the entrance run a companion video (filmed in near darkness just last month) on a loop. But the still shots, broadcast in the frigid hut, are the ultimate attraction, viewed from a bench piled with blankets.

The running time is 15 minutes but even the least patient viewers will stay the course, despite the absence of movement and dialogue, and despite the chill. Zanon-Larcher - with mise-en-scene by Wright - has portrayed a Nordic love triangle inspired by Ibsen's plot (aging doctor; young, lonely wife; handsome interloper) against the tundra fjord. 

'People say, "That's absolutely amazing," but it's really so much more than that,' says Wright, clearly beguiled by the extraordinary landscape. 'Thomas comes from the Italian Alps and he's always had an obsession with snow and the north. And, well, this is about as far north as you can go.'

The fact that Zanon-Larcher has shot the action - the romantic tussles, the mushing huskies, even the love-making - on still film while the static panoramas get the celluloid treatment is a product of his confidence as a storyteller. The epic project 'is conceived and presented like a film,' says Wright, who, in turn, directed it as she would a play at her old stomping ground, the Royal Court theatre. The characters' torment translates through their posture and their anguished, forlorn expressions beneath the heavy, soupy skies. The folky layered wardrobe and blue-filtered Nordic interiors are compelling in their own way (according to Wright, the clothing is largely the actors' own, and the furnishings 'were exactly as we found them'). 

The final frame, incongruous in black and white, lingers as you struggle to rouse yourself. 'It's a memory of what life was,' says Wright. An apt metaphor for the gallery itself. 

ADDRESS

Wapping Hydraulic Power Station
Wapping Wall
London E1W 3SG

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Ellen Himelfarb

Based in London, Ellen Himelfarb travels widely for her reports on architecture and design. Her words appear in The Times, The Telegraph, The World of Interiors, and The Globe and Mail in her native Canada. She has worked with Wallpaper* since 2006.

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