This unique Optical sculpture is composed of approximately 80,000 used clear prescription spectacle lenses, forming an immense, glistening sphere measuring 3.5 metres in diameter. The dense mass of lenses creates a perfectly defined globe that recalls the form of a traditional disco ball. However, rather than reflecting light from its surface, the sculpture refracts it through thousands of overlapping lenses. The result is a mesmerising constellation of light that spills across the surrounding environment, transforming the space with shifting patterns and moments of luminosity.

The use of spectacle lenses is intentionally symbolic. Each lens once belonged to an individual, carrying the traces of human presence, vision, and perception. Gathered together, they metaphorically represent the community of people who work within the building—an accumulation of perspectives unified within a single sculptural form. The work becomes a collective portrait, suggesting clarity, focus, and the shared act of seeing.

Optical was commissioned by Land Securities for the expansive foyer of a new glass-fronted building designed by architects Swanke Hayden Connell. Positioned at the heart of Victoria, at 62 Buckingham Gate, the sculpture responds to the architecture’s transparency and scale, introducing a dynamic, floating beacon of refracted light that animates the space and invites reflection—both literal and metaphorical.