The clouds that linger over London are often described as dark, threatening and stormy, but rarely are they described as “happy”. Until today.

More than 2,000 smiley-faced pink clouds were today released over the capital from outside the Tate Modern on London’s South Bank.

The artist Stuart Semple, who created the Happy Cloud installation, said: “I just wanted to make a piece of work that could cheer people up a bit. I’ve had enough of the doom and gloom in the air and I wanted to show something completely positive floating up in the sky.”

The 2,057 clouds - made of helium, soap and vegetable dye - drifted over the Thames and the City of London. One was released every seven seconds from eight o’clock this morning, and the eco-friendly clouds lasted 30 minutes before dissolving in the air.

As well as alleviating the doom and gloom of recessions and downturns, the installation aims to show that creative industries have an important role in the economy and should not be neglected during the recession.

A recent report by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts predicted that creative industries will grow at an average at more than double the rate of the rest of the economy this year.

The artist said: “I know at times like this it’s easy to make creativity a low priority, but I want to show on a very human level that an artistic idea might be able to do something important, even for a fleeting moment.”

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