Light up Love in Lockdown: Artist
Friday 29th May 2020. The UK is in Lockdown, due to Covid-19.
It is also our Anniversary.
Each year, to mark the occasion we do something we have never done before. Sometimes the actions and adventures are grand in scale, like a drive across South Africa. Other years they are simpler, like a swim across Lake Bala in North Wales.
As our 2020 anniversary approached, against a backdrop of civic stress, divisiveness, uncertainty and loss, we were struggling to find appropriate ways to mark the occasion within the confines of our terraced house in Chester.
Then, via Twitter, I came across a national arts project developed by artists Jane Watt and David Campbell called Lockdown and Light
We hadn’t created a public light installation in our lounge before, so the challenge was set. The timing was perfect.
We started generating ideas and sourcing materials from around the house. The result was our installation piece, Light up Love in Lockdown.
On Friday 29th & Sat 30th May 2020 as dusk arrived and darkness enveloped the street on which we live, we performed a light, music and dance piece for neighbours, passers-by and the residents of the flats opposite us.
I threw on my wedding dress, played our wedding playlist and we danced the night away in our bay window. The windows were opened to allow the music to seep out, inviting those who passed-by to join in.
And, so many chose to do so.
The aim behind Light up Love in Lockdown was to create a surprising, warm and interactive piece that made people smile as they encountered us. We assumed the persona of cows as a nod to the politicisation and framing of the public as a ‘herd’ at the time.
Across both evenings we danced and sang with each other and with strangers.
The absolute highlight was a couple who spontaneously started slow-dancing with one another on the street. When the song closed, they waved goodbye and shimmied towards the flats opposite. Five minutes later the couple had arrived home, put all the lights on in their flat, opened the curtains, launched the tunes and were now dancing in their window opposite. Together we danced, 200 meters apart in separate buildings, but profoundly connected.
It was a memorable way to celebrate our anniversary, whilst bringing surprise, intrigue and humour to those passing-by and enabling connection with those we live near.
More contributions to the Lockdown and Light project can be found on Instagram at the following link:
