What is Tai Shani’s ‘The Spell or The Dream’ installation about?

At first, Tai Shani’s The Spell or The Dream seems torn directly from the pages of a fairytale. Sleeping Beauty’s thousand-year rest, perhaps, or Snow White’s apple-induced coma. But the androgynous figure trapped inside its glass tomb is far from passive in their messaging — iron fastenings and a tall plinth are a reminder of the harsh world they’re being protected from, and juxtapose with the hope for a gentle future that lies at the heart of the Turner Prize winner’s new installation.

The dreaming being that has recently taken over the courtyard at Somerset House as part of its twenty-fifth birthday celebrations breathes the slow rhythm of a restful sleep. The hauntingly human rise and fall of its blue-hued ribcage — together with rosy cheeks, the glimpse of eyes and a red-tipped nose — are proof of life despite the tomb. And, though the figure is cloaked in white with a shawl of cream organza and long blue hair that drips to its feet, there’s nothing overtly feminine about the dreamer, who might also be known as ‘The Spell’. Instead, their gender sits at an intersection, in the same way that they balance between life and death, sleep and wakefulness. 

Their dress is equally ambiguous — what appears at first to be a wedding dress might well be a funeral shroud, a christening gown, or a baptism dress promising a clean slate. Shani’s installation is centred on this very promise — the dream of starting again and living better. In its sleep, the figure has missed countless environmental, political and social crises. And, observing it on the cusp of waking, visitors are invited to dream of a better world — one that they would be proud to introduce to this eternally hopeful creature.

The soundtrack by composer, producer and double bassist Maxwell Sterling heightens this hope. Speakers blend into the plinth on which the sleeping figure lies, bouncing a hypnotic melody around the courtyard. But what gently greets visitors on entering Somerset House becomes overwhelming as you approach the central work and the psychedelic melody quickly wraps you in a dreamworld.

The Spell is only half of Shani’s installation, however. Contributions from artists and audiences collectively build a proposed new way of being in a radio broadcast. Pulling on archival work from writers, academics, economists and activists, it forms The Dream part of the exhibit. And, like a dream, these programmes slip away after they’re read out. There are no on-demand services. Shani has leant into the ephemeral nature of hallucination. 

There’s space to take in this audio-visual element inside Somerset House with freely provided headphones and a cushioned bench. But most visitors, rather than looking out the window opposite at Sleeping Beauty’s more unsettling cousin, gaze straight ahead at the deep purple wall that squares off the listening booth. While The Spell or The Dream attempts to focus our efforts towards a collective imagination, it seems that, when it comes to dreams, the instinct to hide ourselves is often too strong.

Shani’s work doesn’t let visitors shirk from self-reflection for too long, either. At 1pm and 3pm every day, the courtyard’s fountains turn off for a while. Where the sound of water retreats, radio static, coffee machines and casual chatter are quick to step in. Sterling’s soundtrack steadily breathes over the courtyard to remind visitors that if we want a world worth dreaming of, responsibility lies at our own feet.

The Spell or The Dream continues until 14 September 2025 at Somerset House when it will tour to Jupiter Artland in Edinburgh.