electric angel /design for life

advent of a temporary artwork

you wait all year for a beach hut and then two come along at once…

yes, we’re down the seafront again, but this time it’s not sea swim (although we will be sea swim beach hut bound again next summer), but down the coast in bridlington where we’ve been invited to participate in the beach hut advent calender project. each day in advent beach hut no.1 is opened to reveal something new, and today it’s our turn.

it’s all about surprise so we’re not giving anything away, other than to say you’ve probably never seen a beach hut quite like this before. and that you get to take part (you’re not scared of sudden loud noises are you?). so if you’d like to see our for-one-night-only installation-cum-interactive-artwork you’ll just have to turn up. go on – tis the season to be jolly.

the beach hut is opened at 6pm, beach hut no.1, just past the spa, bridlington south bay. all are welcome and there’ll be hot drinks for all.

lift : glass in york hospital [2]

pics of the ‘cherry’ panel in york hospital created with rachel welford. this was the first we completed and was initially used as a prototype to check our creative response to the DDA issues that come with lifts, glass and hospitals in general. it got the thumbs up from the hospital users group and staff and thus the green light for two further glass panels and a ceiling-based artwork.

lift : glass in york hospital

photos of one of three glass lift panels commissioned by York NHS Trust and now installed in York Hospital. this was a collaboration with Rachel Welford along with a ceiling-based artwork for the lift to one of the operating theatres. we blogged about the manufacturing process here. i’ll blog the other three artworks over the coming week as i sort through the photos.

the designs are all based around trees native to britain that have an association with healing. the intention of the panels is to both replace the undesirable unbroken reflection of a mirror (because no-one really wants to be faced with their reflection when they’re ill or under stress) and provide a distraction on what can feel like a long journey as the lift travels.

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our design uses layered imagery and text that offers both an instant impact on the lift doors opening and also reveals more detail over time be that a single or much repeated journey. we’re told that since the panels were installed staff have been discussing their favourite tree to travel in. the bold bands of colour offer a practical purpose that came out of research into DDA issues and problems associated with hospital lifts – to provide a clear indication of the rear wall of the lift for partially sighted people.

liquid quality

the 2011 swim times leaflet for the imove sea swim project.

the photograph that covers the whole leaflet was taken by james swimming out in the south bay and we printed it in reverse on translucent paper with the black type printed on the front to give a sense of depth. the white lettering is the whited out of the background image and so is basically the light shining through the paper. the typography continues a house style for the project started on the beach huts earlier in the year.

we’ve had more lovely comments about this than any other recent piece of work (thanks everyone who has taken time to mention how much they like it), not least this typically poetic one from john who is co-curator of the project: “lovely liquid quality – as if you’d dipped an image in the water and hung it up to run and dry”

the leaflet was printed by north wolds.

bonjour charlotte

today we officially welcome charlotte to electric angel. charlotte’s been doing odd bits of work with us over summer after a couple of work placements with us and exhibiting as part of the crescent gardens art trail last year. she now joins us as a partner filling the recently vacated third of the business. you’ll be seeing her design work and love for inventive typography on this blog over the coming months…

the big draw

it’s all community engagement with us at the moment… we were invited to lead one of ‘the big draw‘ events at the rotunda museum and were quick off the mark to snap up ammonites as our theme for the day – who doesn’t enjoy drawing swirly shapes? we had great fun and loved the fabulous drawings of everyone who took part. if you couldn’t get down today there’s still opportunity to join in creating a large banner each day up to and including saturday.

limestone journeys – the artwork

here’s the limestone journeys artwork i blogged about last week on display for the ‘festival of the environment’ at creswell crags visitor centre in derbyshire. there were some great comments about the artwork, not least the postcards written in character as ice age cave dwellers.

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if you’d like to read about the different sections of the artwork and the activities that led to them being created you can download an info sheet here.

bon voyage james

today is james’s last day as part of electric angel before he and jenny (that’s mrs rush to you) depart for a new life in the land of mounties and maple syrup.

it’s unfortunate timing that i’ll be out of the studio all today although we did manage to integrate beer and pastry-based products into yesterdays events by way of celebration and i intend to raise a glass along with many of james & jenny’s friends and family this evening.

six years working together have flown by in a whirlwind of strong coffee, good music, sausage doorsteps and considered discussions as to the various merits of bruce willis movies. we even did some designing along the way. if i have a regret it’s that we didn’t create enough opportunities to integrate james’s increasingly sublime photography into what we offered as a creative team but i’m excited at the prospect of seeing canada through his lens over the coming months.

who you work with is, i believe, as important as what you produce and with james i have been most fortunate on both counts.

james – safe journeys wherever life takes you and thank you.

limestone journeys

we’ve been clocking up the miles just lately on public art projects. one of these has been with year 6 at whaley thorns primary school on the derbyshire-nottinghamshire border. it’s part of a project called limestone journeys and we’ve been commissioned by junction arts to work with the school to develop a map-artwork that explores the movement and lives of peoples in the area over 15,000 years.

we took the stance that the artwork would be created from that which the young people had discovered for themselves and to this end invited writer-director lizi patch to join me in the school to develop a way of working in which much of the artwork could be created ‘in character’. the final 5 metre long artwork will include postcards written by ice age people, lettering by roman empire migrants and photomontage created from the lives of their grandmas and granddads.

the above photos are (clockwise from top right): photographing a possible drinking place to make an ice age postcard; exploring a cave at creswell crags; hot-seating in character inspired by family heirlooms; a day in the life of an early homosapien.

the artwork will be exhibited next weekend at the festival of the environment at creswell crags visitor centre.

northerly

we had a great opening night for james’s exhibition on friday – success is usually judged by the amount of drink we get through and we had to wash glasses several times which i think was a first. the exhibition of sea photography taken in scarborough runs until november, we’re open weekdays 10-5 and we’ll be open the weekend of the national pro-surf tour next month as part of the programme of cultural events. prints are on sale at £15- £25.

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