David Batchelor's installation for the Hayward Gallery tells 24-hour time using colour

Today (24 November), the Hayward Gallery on London’s South Bank activates its new commission that transforms the newly restored roof into a chromatic clock.

Sixty Minute Spectrum by Scottish artist David Bachelor, utilises the gallery’s unique pyramid roof lights, flooding them with colour that gradually moves through the entire visible chromatic spectrum over a 60-minute cycle. Each hour starts and ends with a vivid red and throughout the 60 minutes, orange, yellow, blue, purple, pink and all the colours in between can also be seen.

The installation is part of the artist’s ongoing series exploring of the “intense, synthetic colour that characterises modern cities and the ways in which we respond to colour in our advanced technological age”. As well as providing a visual attraction, the distinctive installation also provides a countdown to the reopening of the building in January 2018.

The installation runs 24 hours a day and will continue to do so until 23 January 2018. After which, it will run from midnight – 10:59am and then 7:01pm – 11:59pm on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; midnight – 11:59pm on Tuesdays; and midnight – 10:59 and then 9:01pm – 11:59pm on Thursday until 25 March 2018.