JOSIE IRELAND

CREDITS            

    
INSTALLATION  ART
SPARK 2024
Light Up The North
November 2024


Across two weekends in November, 11 emerging light artists from across the UK were guided through a bespoke programme of workshops, talks, and guided tours from artists presenting work in one of Light Up The North’s partner festivals.

Light Up Lancaster (7-9 Nov) had a fantastic array of works, I loved hearing artists speak more about their process and how their pieces work. We finished the weekend with a workshop on projection mapping from Sumit Sarkar, and discussion on the benefits of trying unexpected art forms.

Light Up Wigan (21-23 Nov) also had a brilliantly-curated selection of works, run by Things That Go On Things. Artists Lou Chapelle and Jack Cheeseborough led us through their works, and Jude Jagger took us on a fantastic tour of the festival.

For more information on the programme and this year’s cohort of artists, see the Light Up The North website:
The Early Hours
Milton Court Studio Theatre
January 2024








Inspired by the poem, ‘Two-Headed Calf’ by Laura Gilpin, this experiential installation offered a pocket of calm for its audience. Using 150 upcycled, hand-painted wooden discs, The Early Hours is a celebration of individual creativity and the magic a community can create by cumulative action. 

I designed and created this piece as part of my final year graduation project, showing first in January 2024 and again in June at Guildhall’s Graduate Exhibition. 46 contributors painted the circles, including 16 primary school students and 1 cat. Through academic reading and conducting interviews with current practitioners, research went into Universal Design for art, and the accessibility of creating & experiencing immersive, interactive, sensory, and experiential works.

The design was in response to materials I could gather for free or second-hand.  After its final showing, all materials were repurposed for other projects or recycled.

Particular thanks go to Jon Armstrong, Ben Kosminsky-Wallace, Vanessa Cass, Inspire EBP, and the staff & students of Princess May Primary School.

Photography: Josie Ireland, Princess May teachers, and anonymous audience members
Film Photography: Toby Riding