Two very large, but also so very easy to miss, works of art are passed by thousands of people every day inside King’s Cross tube station.
They can be found in the concourse between the Northern line and the Piccadilly line platforms, and are called Full Circle, by Knut Henrik Henriksen. They appear to be almost part of the structure of the tunnels, and unless you walk up to them and spy a small art notice next to them, you’d probably never even know that there’s a very large work of public art down here.
On the Northern line concourse, the curved side of the segment rests on the floor, with one tip leaning against the arc of the tunnel wall. On the Piccadilly line concourse, Henriksen has raised up the segment at the same angle as it would be beneath the floor.
They’re also made from different materials, one of apparent solid steel, and the other perforated as if a ventilation grill.
What’s nice about these works of art is their almost total anonymity. They’re large and fill the wall at the end of the tunnels, and thousands of people who come down the escalators will walk towards the art. Yet, those people will look instinctively towards the doorways leading to the platforms, not the art in front of them.
It’s one of those “hidden in plain view” works of art that doesn’t seek to impose itself on you and gives you a chance to show off your impeccable knowledge by pointing them out to your friends when catching a tube train from King’s Cross station.
- Full Circle part one: Northern line concourse, completed December 2009
- Full Circle part two: Piccadilly line concourse, completed December 2010
