Celebrating our landscapes

If you would like to take part in a very special, large scale artwork in the great outdoors under darkened skies to reconnect with our landscapes and its people, then an upcoming project may be just what the doctor ordered.

Commissioned by ‘UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK’, the project is called ‘Green Space Dark Skies’, and thousands of participants, which they are calling ‘Lumenators’, are being recruited to create the artwork in designated areas of outstanding natural beauty in the North, including the Sperrins.

Gathering at dusk, the Lumenators will be guided along pathways or waterways carrying ‘smart lights’ that will enable digital choreography captured on film, while also being sensitive to the night-time environment.

To protect these amazing places, the exact locations will only be revealed to the Lumenators who have registered to take part. There will be no spectators, but anyone can take part for free as long as they sign up in advance.

Stories of the people

During the event, which will take place at the Lagan Valley in April; the Sperrins in June; and the Causeway Coast (TBC), Lumenators will also be encouraged to share their own connections to the landscape and the local areas as part of their involvement.

Short films will then be created to incorporate the stories of the people and places featured, and will be broadcast online after the event to celebrate the countryside, and people’s right to explore it, as well as encouraging our responsibility to take care of it for future generations.

It is hoped, too, that the project will highlight the value of minimising light pollution in our towns, cities and rural landscapes to support wildlife to flourish.

Outdoor art experts, ‘Walk the Plank‘ are the lead creative organisation in the production of ‘Green Space Dark Skies’.

John Wassell, Walk the Plank creative producer for ‘Green Space Dark Skies’, said that the art project was ‘about class and landscape; race and landscape; disability and landscape.”

“We want to build more countryside stewards for the future, and to inspire more people to see the connection between their use and enjoyment of the land and our care for the planet,” he said.

“The most important collective act of connection between people will be the moment when darkness falls, and we switch the lights off.”

Kathy Hayes, Walk the Plank co-producer for ‘Green Space Dark Skies’ has encouraged anyone interested in the once in a lifetime project to sign up now.

“Green Space Dark Skies is a very exciting, inspiring and highly creative project,” she said. “Through close local collaborations and partnerships, we plan to make sure that everyone involved will not only enjoy participating but that it leaves a lasting legacy.

“I would encourage anyone who would like to take part to sign up now to avoid missing out on this experience.”

SPECIALLY-DESIGNED LIGHTS

Developed by graduate engineers at Siemens specially for this project, the smart lights Lumenators will be provided with will use existing wireless programmable lights, while incorporating something that’s never been done before: The ability for these lights to be animated through geo-positioning, where the position of each light can be known in relationship to the others.

‘Green Space Dark Skies’ is one of 10 major creative projects commissioned by UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK.

It is anticipated that approximately 20 thousand people from Cairngorms to The Chilterns; Gower to North York Moors; and Dartmoor to the Causeway Coast, will take part in the project, which features 20 of the UK’s most outstanding landscapes. The artwork, which will begin in April, will conclude with a finale in September.

‘UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK’ is funded and supported by the four governments of the UK and is commissioned and delivered in partnership with Belfast City Council, Creative Wales and EventScotland.

l If you would like to take part in Green Space Dark Skies, please register at www.greenspacedarkskies.uk/get-involved