ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT

from Lighting Journal June 2020

SOCIAL MEDIA ROUND-UP

As Britain was whipped by storms and unseasonal weather, it was only appropriate that the ILP-supported LewesLight festival in February took as its theme the impact of human society on the natural world, especially plastic waste, rising sea levels, climate change and global heating

By Graham Festenstein

The LewesLight festival this year took place at the end of February (from 28 February to 01 March), against a backdrop of extreme weather and the threat of coronavirus growing globally.

Indeed, even just the week before there was a distinct possibility it may not have gone ahead at all. However, storm-battered and slightly depleted, the festival opened on the Friday night to a die-hard audience prepared to weather the wind and rain.

Whilst three of the installations could not go ahead because of the high winds, our stoic visitors were not disappointed as this year saw on display some of the most exciting installations we have been able to deliver in the five-year history of the festival.

As the weekend progressed the weather subsided and our audience increased and by the Sunday the moon was visible and two of the three missing installations had been reinstated.

Being able to see the moon, albeit only briefly, was very important to the festival, as moonlight was one of the primary themes for this year.

Being in the dark skies reserve of the South Downs National Park we are always keen to promote the importance of dark skies, and the festival is as much a festival of dark and shadow as it is a festival of light.

Dark skies, or the lack of them, are also emblematic of the impact human society has upon our natural world and this combined with our second theme – water – which, in turn, generated a narrative about wider environmental issues, including single-use plastic, sea level rise, flooding and climate change.

Starting with these two threads as a brief, our artists and designers came up with some amazing responses, focusing in some cases on single elements, with others managing to combine all of these threads into cohesive works demonstrating the human condition and current dangers to our planet.

MOON, TIDES AND THE SEA

One special moment was viewing Sunny Sribanditmongkol’s installation

‘Tide 2020’ under a starfilled and moonlit sky while listening to its soundtrack, a reading by distinguished poet Grace Nichols of a brand new poem Moon’s Letter to Earth and watching imagery that explored the moon, the tides and the sea.

Martina Alagna’s piece ‘There is no Planet B’ also created a combined narrative, showing a view of the earth from the moon surrounded by a tide of floating toxic plastic. To provide context, the piece was presented within a nature reserve on the edge of the town centre in a stream that feeds via the River Ouse into the sea just a few miles away.

Jeanne Blissett-Robertson’s installation ‘Running Parallel’ concerned life under the water. A short film shot under the surface of the Pells Pond, a body of water fed by a spring, explored an underwater vista over several months, the time of day changing under different light conditions.

The film was projected on to a screen rising out of the water from the adjacent Pells outdoor swimming pool. This was a tranquil yet engaging piece that commented on the environmental impact we are having on our waterways, wildlife and rising sea levels.

Lee Painter with a team from BDP produced a striking and optimistic work ‘Remembering Our Place’ that incorporated a poem by Christie Amery and embraced the human form. It looked back from a future where the warnings of global climate change had been heeded and steps taken to reverse the impact of global warming.

Eleni Shiarlis’ dynamic and exiting work ‘Lunar Cycle’ investigated the simplicity of connections between the moon and the tides through the lunar phases and generated a bold representation of the reflection of moonlight on water.

SECONDARY SCHOOL PROJECT

Water was also the main theme of installations within and around the Linklater Pavilion. An eco-building designed to withstand flooding, this community resource within the Railway Land Wildlife Reserve is home to education projects, including the Linklater RATS (Raising Awareness of Tides and Sea Levels) a project for secondary school children in collaboration with the Environment Agency.

The festival collaborated with the RATS and the agency to produce a number of pieces. ‘Water Wall’, an immersive dynamic projected installation by artists Maggie Lambert and Emily Lowry was inspired by the issues surrounding the RATS project. Two installations – ‘Ripples’ and ‘Prepare Act Survive’ – were devised by the RATS themselves, facilitated by LewesLight’s community artist Michelle Dufaur, animator Chris Prewitt and projection specialist Tim Minter.

Some of our artists and designers opted for purely moon-inspired pieces, the Depot Cinema hosting two of these, both with a cinematic theme. Studio Fractal’s ‘Unknown Ground’ investigated the team behind the Apollo 11 mission, including using original footage.

The second piece was in the form of a workshop based on the film A Trip to the Moon by George Méliès. Gallit and Grimaldi’s workshop participants played with paper, cardboard and light to create beautiful structures and costumes inspired by the film.

In the gardens of Southover Grange House there were two other moon-based works, this time developed through a workshop at a special needs school, Manor Green College in Crawley.

The workshop by Shadow Cabinet Puppetry developed a performance that was turned into a film by community filmmaker Mick Hawksworth. Lighting designer Margareth Sunjoto worked alongside Shadow Cabinet to produce ‘Wonder’ a separate dynamic installation, but also based on the children’s work.

Also within the gardens, Arjun Mistry’s installation ‘Migration’ looked at the impact that celestial cycles have on wildlife and eco-systems. By using reflective material and carefully positioned light sources, Arjun was able to present MC Esher’s famous tessellation of fish and birds in a new light.

Housed within the tower of our 13th century church Trinity South Malling, Kate Chapman’s installation ‘A Space to Drop In’ again explored the relationship between the moon and reflection of moonlight on water. This time, however, Kate was interested in the relationship with the self and the flow of water conveying a positive message for the future.

STUDENT ARTISTS AND DESIGNERS

Other installations included a dynamic, fun interactive piece by digital artist Tim Minter, ‘Light Fish’, a beautiful laser installation ‘Over the Moon …. and Far Away’ by Miranda Davis and Matthew Button and an immersive sound and lightscape set to a poem Salt by Heather Shann with lighting input from Karen Van Creveld.

Last but certainly not least, community artist Nikki Gunson’s wonderful polar bears provided a symbol of the terrible damage the human race has inflicted on the natural world.

As well as our work this year with schoolage children, the festival worked with students from Rose Bruford College’s new undergraduate Architectural Lighting Course, UCL’s Light and Lighting MSc and undergraduate students from Brighton University School of Art, who worked with

our artists and designers on development and delivery of their installations. We also provided work experience for technical and event management students from both Rose Bruford College and Guildford School of Acting.

Whilst it was disappointing that we were so plagued by poor weather, it was most pertinent that the unprecedented high winds, high water levels and flooding brought by storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge impacted on our preparations and the event itself, as they aptly demonstrated the very serious message the festival set out to highlight.

Not only did the storms cause havoc, but working outside on preparations over the weeks leading up to the festival brought home just how unusual and unseasonable the weather has become; animal and bird behaviour along with plant growth were not as you would expect for the time of year.

These observations, along with the messages from the Environment Agency that sea level rise is a very real concern and in only a few decades much of the area of the town we were working in will actually be permanently underwater, reinforced our belief that our concerns a b o u t c l i m a t e c h a n g e a r e n o exaggeration.

As professionals in art, design, technology and engineering, I think I speak for us all when I say that pooling our skills in a project of this kind and engaging with the wider community is critical to getting this vital message across. We are delighted this year’s festival was able to make a small contribution towards this cause.

LewesLight 2020 was, as always, well supported by the lighting industry. In particular we are grateful to the ILP, Commercial Lighting Systems, iGuzzini, Architainment Lighting, Rosco, Led Linear, Light Projects, Mode Lighting, White Light, EL Wirecraft, Casambi and East Sussex Highways. Our design practice and production partners for this year were

BDP Lighting, Eleni Shiarlis

Lighting, Graham Festenstein Lighting Design,

Nulty +, Studio 29, Studio Fractal, Russell Beck Studio and Sussex Events.

LewesLight is financially supported by The Arts Council of England, Lewes Town Council, Lewes District Council, The Rowland Family Foundation and The Sussex Community Foundation.

Graham Festenstein CEng MILP MSLL is director of LewesLight as well as being Vice President – Architectural for the ILP and owner of Graham Festenstein Lighting Design