The Beacon, 2017

The Beacon is a gathering place for the local community offering a varied programme of events from film screenings, live music, theatre and stand-up comedy to a range of classes and workshops.

Just outside the entrance is a redundant kerbed area, otherwise known as the LongAbout. The space was once home to some large confiers which had to be removed to allow light back into the The Beacon's building.

My brief was to animate this space alongside school workshops, conversations and research.

The space is a really awkward size, and about 7metres long, it's also wider one end than the other.

A lot of public conversation and input referenced the natural world and re-landscaping the space so the first temporary intervention took the form of a 'fake' flower bed using spray chalk and stencils.

It took a lot longer than I anticipated - the space is deceptively large! but the result was an instant splash of colour in a grey car park.

The second intervention changed the space into a hybrid sports court based on activities on offer in The Beacon and school workshop ideas. Again using chalk spray in addition to a table tennis net (which lasted a fair time before going missing!)

Both interventions created a lot of interest and comment. These have been taken onboard together with input from service users and research to design a permanent artwork for the LongAbout space.