Community & Public Engagement
Community & Public Engagement
A selection of our projects, past & recent
Song of The Pine
Commissioned by the AHRC research project, INTO THE FOREST, led by Dr Eleanor Barraclough.
Created for Light Up Trails and exhibited at Sir Harold Hillier Gardens
This installation was the result of a creative partnership with the historian, author and BBC presenter, Dr Eleanor Barraclough. Song Of The Pine integrated the cycle of forest ecology with the fireside storytelling traditions of the Vikings and Anglo Saxons, as seen through the life cycle of a pine tree, the original Christmas tree.
Atmospheric and emotional, the piece drew on the audience’s own ancient and instinctive response to the primeval supremacy of ice and fire and aimed to reconnect them to the fullness of forest life.
Our piece was originally designed to engage the public as part of a night time winter walking trail. Using a combination of specially written poetry by Karen, the piece fused modern technology in the form of specially designed foliage projection and a 5.1 surround sound system with traditional storytelling, creating a compelling work suitable for an all age 21st century audience.
Alongside the main commission, we also ran an educational strand for local primary school children to engage with the project. This was organised by Light Up Trails and overseen by Dr. Barraclough. The resulting artworks were then projected as part of the wider trail for all the visitors to see.
‘Song Of The Pine’ was seen by 70,000 people and the piece was very well received, and was voted the ‘Audience’s Favourite’ by the visitors on the trail that year.
“Karen had clearly done extensive research into my work and used that foundation to craft a resonant, immersive experience. She composed a remarkable sound design that felt both ancient and vividly modern. Being recorded and directed by her as a narrator felt completely natural.” – Dr. Eleanor Barraclough
Codex
Commissioned by the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Durham University
‘Codex’ explores the connection between Northumbria and the rest of the known world as expressed in the art and manuscripts produced in North East England between 600 and 800AD. At this time, the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria was a creative powerhouse overflowing with a multicultural fusion of Insular, Germanic, and Mediterranean art.
This projection and sound installation was designed as a touring installation work for interior viewing, to engage with the public.
Durham University, the project commissioners, supported Ross Ashton and Karen Monid in its research and development. The images were built from complex layers of animation, filmed footage, and original images from The British Library and others. The audio combined the sounds of languages of the time with location nature recordings made on Holy Island itself, to convey the world of the Lindisfarne monks and the process of manuscript creation at that time.
“I was blown away when I watched it this morning for the first time. I’ve popped back in and out all through the day because once isn’t enough to watch it! It is atmospheric but actually it draws you in, in a beautiful way, to that world. Codex, having this beautiful sound and light projection, really really draws people in. So many people today, who have come to see the projection have used the word ‘atmospheric’. It’s creative and unusual and really exciting.” – Revd Canon Dr Sarah Hills, Vicar of Holy Island
“I like the sound effects with the colours and hearing the story of all the people involved…it makes it all very real because they were real people, doing real things.” – Renee, a visitor.
“We need to tell people about the stuff that we do. Part of the excitement comes from telling people about the stuff that you’re excited about, but it’s also the interaction with different audiences….it’s a wonderful two-way process.” – Prof. Giles Gasper, Deputy Executive Dean (Research), Durham University
Want to know more about Codex?
Horizon
Commissioned by the AHRC research project, ORDERED UNIVERSE, led by Prof. Giles Gasper (Durham University) and Dr Hannah Smithson (University of Oxford), Napa Lighted Art Festival (U.S) and Light Up Poole (UK)
Created for exhibition at Napa Lighted Art Festival (U.S) and Light Up Poole (UK)
‘Horizon’ follows the journey of humankind through time, how we have discovered our place in the universe through what we see, and how that view has changed as we go beyond the limit of our horizon.
Beginning with the scientific teachings of the English medieval polymath Robert Grosseteste and journeying to 21st century satellite explorations at the Jet Propulsion Laboratories, NASA, we see how our knowledge is shaped by the horizon of our viewpoint, by what is visible and invisible to us, and how we still seek answers on how we should live.
The Projection Studio worked with scientists from JPL-NASA involved with climate investigations, particularly on water availability for plant life and the threat of rising sea levels. They also worked with Ordered Universe team members as their multidisciplinary approach advanced the knowledge and understanding of the unique treatises of Grosseteste.
In Poole, we also presented a talk at the event’s light art symposium.
Horizon was seen by 40,000 people in Napa, California and another 40,000 in Poole, Dorset in the UK.
“I found listening to the digital artists [The Projection Studio] talk about their work during the light art symposium absolutely fascinating.” – G. Aldred, artist
“Saw this last night – Spectacular!!” – Twitter (US exhibition)
“This was amazing! It was so beautiful I watched it live twice” – Instagram (US exhibition)
“Amazing light show on St James Church” – Twitter (UK exhibition)
“Fantastic event. And St James’ Church was stunning!” – Twitter (UK exhibition)
Victorian Speed of Light
Commissioned by the AHRC research project, DISEASES OF MODERN LIFE, led by Prof. Sally Shuttleworth (University of Oxford) & TORCH (The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities)
Created for the Victorian Light Night event.
Also exhibited at Light Up Poole, UK, and the University of Otago, New Zealand
Our work was intended to engage the public with the key themes of Victorian stress and disease that the project uncovered.
Professor Shuttleworth’s material speaks to human experience, in this case how it felt first-hand to live through the change from mainly rural life to industrialisation. To tell this story, we used the perspective of the Victorians themselves from contemporary documents to historical images and audio, to creatively reconstruct the world they lived in. We showed our audience the enormous changes that the Victorians went through; and that their response to these changes is very similar to our responses to stresses today.
On the first night of projection in Oxford, the academics spoke face-to-face with 2000 members of the public.
‘We have had just the most amazing night…thousands of people flowing through to see the projection and activities. It has been a wonderful experience working with the Projection Studio. A wonderful collaboration’ – Professor Sally Shuttleworth – Principal Investigator Diseases of Modern Life, St. Anne’s College Oxford.
Spiritus - Light and Darkness
Commissioned by the e-Luminate Festival, Cambridge, with the support of the AHRC research project, ORDERED UNIVERSE, led by Prof. Giles Gasper (Durham University) and Dr Hannah Smithson (University of Oxford)
To develop this project, we partnered with academics from IMEMS at Durham University, alongside leading physicists and astronomers from the Department of Computational Cosmology. These included medieval historian Prof. Giles Gasper and cosmologist Prof. Carlos Frenk.
Using images and ideas of the workings of the physical and metaphysical cosmos, this artwork juxtaposes medieval theories with the latest science on the origins of the universe.
The sound featured a special music arrangement of the responsory, ’O vos angeli’ composed by the 12th century German abbess, Hildegard von Bingen. The instrumental arrangements drew on the visual elements of the piece, using instruments depicted and associated with angels from the medieval period onwards.
It was first shown at the e-Luminate Festival in Cambridge, where it was projected onto the Old School and Senate House buildings at Cambridge University. It has also been exhibited at the Berlin Festival of Lights, where it was displayed at the historic Nikolaikirche, Berlin’s oldest church, and at the Natural History Museum in Oxford, for that city’s ‘Night of Heritage Light’ arts festival.
Animal
ANIMAL was Inspired by the AHRC project, INTO THE FOREST led by Dr. Eleanor Barraclough.
Created for the Cheriton Light Festival – 2020.
Animal was Inspired by Dr Eleanor Barraclough’s work on the forest themes and the podcasts that she had produced from that research.
Animal was an experimental work in using Psychoacoustics in a public urban environment.
The soundtrack and imagery start in the modern day and then lead the viewer back to a Mesolithic landscape at the end of the last ice age.
