Luminary is a fascinating series of LED light drawings exhibited in two parts inside the Fabrica gallery in Brighton.
The installation in the former Regency church takes the form of a “a monumental walk,” and has been developed from drawings by older people and is said to combine two ideas in one:
…literally that the artwork itself emits light, and metaphorically that older people bring important knowledge and a longer perspective to the rest of society.
The work has been inspired by the artist’s love of drawings produced by an ‘untutored hand’, with displayed sketches by young children and older people providing both the inspiration and material for the final works.
Employing LED light rope, the artist has transposed a selection of drawings to a larger scale while “retaining and amplifying the power, spontaneity and uninhibited style of each original.”
The exhibition website offers more detail:
Ron Haselden has been working with this technique for the past ten years – often choosing to work with the drawings of those who are the least visible and vocal in our society: young children, prisoners and now, older people. Luminary offers the singularity of an artist’s vision, yet sheds a genuine light on the perspectives of others.
As a septuagenarian, he finds himself reflecting a great deal on being older. Many older people do not find it easy to have their voice heard as contemporary life rushes on. The value of the older person, for the main part, slips too readily out of sight. I see the work, Luminary, as giving older people much more visibility, by presenting in quit
Children enjoyed running through the installation.
The old church provides a beautiful backdrop for the work.
Close up detail.
Ron Haselden:
The advantage of ageing is that you haven’t got too much to lose whatever the risk you take, and risk taking seems an essential ingredient in making art”
Here’s more photos of the installation. Scroll down for opening times.
Details
Luminary by Ron Haselden
Runs: 9 April – 29 May, 2016
Fabrica
40 Duke Street, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1AG
01273 778 646
Opening hours
9 April – 6 May: Weds-Sat, 12-5pm, Sundays and Bank Holiday (2 May), 2-5pm
7 May – 29 May: Daily, 12-7pm
Late night opening until 10pm – 12 & 26 May
Admission free
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