Oldest Place - Fireworks, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton. At the beginning of the month we were busy in Wolverhampton creating our second version of "Enchanted City" We were commissioned to produce two video installations; one for The University main entrance on Wulfrana street and the second for the side of Barclays Bank building on St Peters Square. The work was commiosioned by Wolverhampton Council and produced by Robin Morley of Magnetic Events. Generator This was fantasy piece based on the idea of the university being a generator of ideas. It was light hearted and fast moving and was fun to make. We enjoyed creating the flying objects especially nellie the cow. Flying Cow, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.
You can see the video of Generator here. The Oldest Place Karen Monid led out on this piece, recording anglo-saxon poetry on the theme of The Garden of Eden. St Peters Square is the site of the original land which Lady Wulfrun donated to found a monastery.
Fantasy Foliage, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton. You can see the video of The Oldest Place here. The public reaction to the entire Enchanted Town project was overwhelmingly positive and we thank the people of Wolverhampton for being so welcoming. Hopefully we'll be back soon.
Viking Shield Wall, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton. You can see the full video here. What can we say about York? We are always so happy to back and be allowed to create work in this fantastic city. I will admit to being biased. I am a Yorkshireman after all, so its a privilege to have worked here so often. Triquetra was the third work that Karen Monid and I have created here. The first was Accendo in 2008 and that was followed by Rose in 2010. Each time we have been allowed to choose an iconic part of the architecture of York to work with. This time we really wanted to create something different. We have projected onto landscapes before, but its not often that we would have the opportunity to project onto landscape and architecture, especially not in an urban setting. This is what we found special about choosing the site of Clifford's Tower at the Eye of York as our canvas. Standing 25m tall and 75m wide, this is a unique architectural feature in that it is still of a size that can be addressed with a reasonable number of projectors whilst still dominating the space in which it stands. The Midgard Serpent, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.
The history behind Triquetra is best read on Karen's blog (see links below), and I wont repeat it all here, except to say that it talks of three Viking Kings, Harald Bluetooth, Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut the Great and their dynastic journey from being pagan kings of Denmark to being Christian kings of a mini empire and early kings of all England. On the way we illustrated in sound and image: The creation of the world from the Viking perspective. The destruction of Lindisfarne. The invasion of England. The letter from King Cnut to his people from the York Gospels. Karens Triquetra history blog entries: Part 1 : Part 2
Triquetra logo 2, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton. Karen and I would like to thank: Sang, Thierry and Steve at The Projection Studio Richard and QED for projection equipment Tom Vickers AVLS for sound equipment Ben Pugh for his support throughout and of course Illuminating York for commissioning this work. Press: York Press
Following on from the success of our collaboration at the Cambridge Institute of Astronomy we are planning our next event. Maria & I very much enjoyed our collaboration and we will work together again in December at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh.
Dates and ticket details to follow.
We have also launched a website to talk about all things AniMotion.
Last night saw the launch
of a new artistic collaboration between Fine Artist Maria Rud and Projection
Artist Ross Ashton. Together they have collaborated to bring together painting,
music and projection mapping into one live experience. Animotion - Syrinx, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.
In collaboration with
Ross Ashton, AniMotion has now been taken to a new level.Ross has created a method of mapping the
artist’s work directly to the architecture. This allows Maria to create in
three dimensions, directly onto the building. She is free to reinterpret the
architecture in real time using traditional painting methods. Animotion - Sound of Sleat, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.
Maria Rud said, ‘By
uniting music and painting through the art of projection, AniMotion immerses
audiences in a world of transcendence.By dissolving boundaries between art forms you reveal a whole new world
and a new art form.’ Maria Rud and musicians at work, originally uploaded by Ross Ashton.
The use of live music as
part of the process adds to the spectacular nature of the piece. For the work
in Cambridge, Maria collaborated with three musicians based in Edinburgh, Dave
Heath, Fay Fife and DJ Dolphin Boy. They composed three pieces of music for
‘Dark Matter’. ‘An Improvisation on Debussy’s Syrinx’ (Heath), ‘The Sound of
Sleat’ (Fife/Levy), and ‘Dark Matter’ (Fife/ Heath/Levy)
‘This was a very exciting process for to
work through.” says Ashton. ‘As soon as we started to discuss it, I knew that I
could make this collaboration work and give Maria the freedom she needed to create her art.
It has been very satisfying intellectually. I think that the results speak for
themselves. Nothing is hidden. The
audience are encouraged to watch the painter as she develops and redevelops the
work.’
Ross Ashton & Maria Rud
NOTE: These works were
presented as part of the launch of the e-Luminate festival which will be held
in February 2014. http://www.e-luminatefestivals.co.uk/
A “son et lumiere”
artwork inspired by three Viking kings.
Clifford's Tower - York
Thank you for your
interest in this project.
We are Ross Ashton and
Karen Monid and we have been commissioned byIlluminating York 2013 to create
an original artwork for this lighting festival, which takes place from the 30th
October to the 2nd November this year.
We work in projected
image and sound to create our works.Our
pieces are site specific and are inspired by the buildings and history of the
sites at which we work and their relationship with the people that live and
have lived there.
We are looking for
volunteers who can be recorded either in York or London, or are willing and able to record themselves, who are speakers of and read Old Norse
and/or Old English. We’re aware that Icelandic people are able to also read Old
Norse, so Icelandic speakers are also very welcome! We will use sentences in
these languages and in modern English to build up the layers of sound that will
create this sound-world and will inform the images that will be projected.
If you are interested in
taking part and can spare a short time to read a few sentences in these ancient
languages and in modern English then do please email us here!
Once you get in touch with
us, we will open a direct line of communication with all volunteers so they
have more details about the final project.
We do not have a date
set yet for the recording sessions but it will be around 2 weeks from now.
"Energy, Growth, Movement" by Susie Olczak, 2013
Photo courtesy Oliver Cross
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Are you interested in showcasing your technology or products in a new and exciting way? Or are you an artist with an interest in technology and the cross-over between art and science? The 2014
e-Luminate Festival is the UK’s first event designed to showcase the imaginative
and inspirational potential of new art created using low carbon/energy efficient
technology - is looking for more technical sponsors for its 2104 event.
This will be
staged between the 12th and 23rd of February 2014 in
Cambridge, UK. In its second year, e-Luminate is now under the Artistic Direction
of projection specialist Ross Ashton, known for his work worldwide and his
expertise in producing specular public art works.
It has also
just been confirmed that leading entertainment technology brands Panasonic and
Pulsar have come on-board.
e-Luminate provides a completely unique opportunity for brands, manufacturers
and distributors to highlight all sorts of sound, lighting and video hardware
and software products and enables artists to use these in new, exciting and
inventive ways.
I am delighted that Panasonic and Pulsar have committed to
supporting the event. I think that have companies of this calibre on-board already is a
great testament to the importance of the Festival and its ambitions.
Cambridge
based Pulsar have been instrumental in popularising the use of LED technology
in the entertainment and architainment sectors with the development of their
ground-breaking Chroma range of LED fixtures. Pulsar featured heavily in the
first e-luminate last year and are keen to be involved in their home town again
this year.
Panasonic
are also embracing the need to produce genuinely greener technology and now
offer several ranges of smaller, and more eco-friendly projectors that are
expedient on power consumption, yet with no compromise on the brightness front.
Interactive
lighting control specialists amBX are sponsoring e-Luminate for the second year
running following a great response from their enthusiastic participation last
year’s inaugural event.
I also want to find a moving light sponsor. Most moving light brands
have at least one LED range and this is an ideal chance for these to be
utilised in a completely different and very cool way with stunning results. However,I see this festival to be about more than just lighting. For example amBX are software specialists and
many musical compositions take the theme of light as their inspiration. We are
very keen to create works using audio and software solutions and are actively
seeking companies which would like to showcase their products in a new artistic
environment.
It’s the
intention of e-Luminate to team artists up with technology partners enabling them to create a
series of vibrant installations which can be enjoyed by the public for the
duration of the festival. Artworks will be created on a range of scales from the monumental to the small, with art sited across the city and in the public domain.
It will also
raise awareness of environmental challenges related to lighting and energy
use; encourage people to re-evaluate the
role of lighting in their day-to-day living as well as for entertainment and
fun and emphasise the links between technology and creativity.
Several
levels of sponsorship are available.
The call for Artists to take part in
e-Luminate Cambridge is open until August 15th.
e-Luminate
is a Community Interest Company created to open and sustain dialogue between arts,
the community, art and technology and inspire people to adopt more energy
saving and genuinely sustainable practices.
The series
of fabulous new art installations that will feature at e-Luminate 2014 will be
both spectacular and entertaining, showing technology literally ‘in a different
light’.
‘Enchanted Town’ is a brand new creative concept uniting ideas, local culture and history, music, street theatre, live performance, digital arts and cutting edgetechnology in a fun, open and accessible presentation … aimed at engaging all levels of public in a vibrant and fun environment.
The first pilot event was
staged last weekend at Horncastle, Lincolnshire, proving a massive success and
pulling 4,000 visitors into the town centre for the evening, boosting local
businesses and creating a brilliant vibe. Even the weather got into the mood!
Enchanted Town is the brainchild
of an innovative collaboration between leading outdoor arts Producer and
Festival Director Robin Morley from Magnetic Events, internationally renowned
large format projection and digital artist Ross Ashton and ground-breaking
sound artist and audio designer Karen Monid.
The event was presented by
East Lindsey District Council working with the Horncastle Festivals Committee.
It was also the opening event of the SO Festival, 10 days of shows, events and
culture taking place across East Lindsey, funded by East Lindsey District
Council, Arts Council England and Centrica Energy.
Morley, Ashton and Monid have
previously worked together on a number of projects, including the very popular
‘Enchanted Parks’, an annual public art event taking place in Saltwell Park in Gateshead
since 2007, produced by Morley and presented by NewcastleGateshead Initiative
and Gateshead Council.
This comprises a number of
commissioned temporary public art works – for which Ashton and Monid have
produced signature pieces - involving unique projections and immersive
soundscapes encompassing local elements and themes. It attracted up to 35,000
people over 5 days in December 2012.
The idea behind ‘Enchanted Town’
or Enchanted City’ is that it can be transposed to any location.
With the aid of visual magic,
interactive street theatre and any number of other activities – including
contributions from local artists including a video film group - it will pull
both visitors and business into an urban setting, enriching the location by
allowing all to enjoy the surroundings and be entertained in imaginative, new
and different ways.
The centrepiece of the Horncastle
Enchanted Town event was two large format video projections works created
specially by Ashton, complete with bespoke soundtracks from Monid, which took
their starting points from some well-known local personalities – primarily the
poet Alfred Lord Tennyson and botanist Sir Joseph Banks.
The first, ‘Spiritus – Ring Out
Wild Bells’ was projected onto the bell tower of St Mary’s Church.
The stunning 14 metres high by 8 metres wide images were
beamed from a doubled up pair of Barco CLM HD8 projectors rigged in portrait
format and installed in a specially constructed tower.
When creating the images, Ashton
took the splendid wooden angels holding up the church roof as his visual
starting point, and created an animated story around them, which played out on
an 8 minute loop.
Tennyson’s ‘The Wild Bells’ was
first published in 1850, the year he was appointed Poet Laureate. Monid’s
compelling and beautiful soundtrack used quotations and passages from the poem
together with other elements.
The second projected work “The
Magical Spying Glass” utilised the Banks Building as its canvass. The building
is named after naturalist and botanist Sir Joseph Banks, born in Lincolnshire,
who accompanied Captain James Cook’s first great voyage to the Southern Seas
(1768-1771).
Ashton’s eye-catching content
unfolded a fantasy tale inspired by that voyage, with Banks starting off as the
Great South Sea Caterpillar. It also incorporated legendary sea monster, the
Kraken (the subject of an irregular sonnet by Tennyson). Artwork was based on
some of Banks’ botanical drawings taken from the Cook voyage together with
various cartoons and caricatures of Banks by 18th century satirist,
James Gillray – among other materials.
In the 3.5 minute projected
movie, Banks was transformed from the caterpillar into a South Sea butterfly
and flitted around a garden composed from his own drawings, ending up in New
Zealand, where he went underwater and came face-to-face with the Kraken! This
gave Ashton plenty of leeway to create a colourful and amusing allegory.
The single Panasonic EX12
projector was located in the Travis Perkins showroom about 25 metres way, which
was the optimum position to make up the 13 metre wide image.
Monid again composed an intricate
and fun soundtrack which added to the drama and sense of spectacle, enthralling
onlookers.
The projection and sound
equipment for both installations was supplied by locally based Enigma Effects.
Portfolio Holder for Culture, Leisure and Tourism at East Lindsey
District Council, Councillor Adam Grist, commented that they were “Absolutely
delighted” with the response. “To see so many people in the town centre
enjoying the acts and illuminations and
supporting local businesses was wonderful”.
Robin Morley said “The response
exceeded our expectations in terms of visitor numbers for the first Enchanted
Town event”.
“It was a real pleasure to work
with Ross and Karen again who are absolutely at the top of their game, and
having international artists of their calibre involved certainly boosted the
success of the whole project and in creating a truly magical event”.
Ross Ashton stated, “We really
enjoyed working in Horncastle – the setting is fabulous and it proves that you
can hold events like this in the UK - at any time of the year - and people will
come out and enjoy”.
Robin Morley concludes that they
are already being asked to consider ideas for next year’s Horncastle Enchanted
Town.
