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In Boyce’s ‘When Now is Night’, a white net of diagonal and vertical lines lies over the black background like a grid. Behind this, a second layer of paler, interlocking shapes emerges, giving the two-dimensional wall a three-dimensional structure. Through the repetitions and rhythms of the screen-printed wallpaper, Boyce aims to create a kind of ‘geometric soundtrack’ that transforms the atmosphere of the room.
Boyce was inspired by Saul Bass’s opening sequence for Alfred Hitchcock’s film ‘North by Northwest’ (1959). In it, an abstract net of lines on a green surface transforms into the glass façade of a New York skyscraper. Only then does it become clear: it is not an abstract grid, but a fragment of (cinematic) reality.
The idea that night can be not just a time but also a place fascinated Boyce. James Thomson’s poem ‘The City of Dreadful Night’ (1874) made a particular impression on him. Boyce’s wallpaper transforms the exhibition space into both a city and night at the same time.