Bournemouth is planting its flag as a major international contemporary art destination, with Airship Orchestra running from 8 September – 9 October 2022 at The Triangle – Bournemouth.
GIANT is the largest artist-led space in the UK. They recently announced Airship Orchestra for GIANT OFFSITE, a series of outdoor installations supported by BCP Council and Bournemouth Town Centre BID. It takes place in The Triangle, in the heart of Bournemouth’s independent quarter.
Paul Kinvig, Chief Operating Officer, Bournemouth Town Centre BID said of the upcoming event;
“We’re delighted to be involved in this project, especially at it affords the opportunity for our levy payers to take advantage of the increased footfall and focus the town will receive, through our trail and promotion opportunities being organised to support their activities.”
Marking its European premiere, Airship Orchestra will be the massive centrepiece for Art Month and will run from 8 September – 9 October 2022.
The globally renowned Airship Orchestra, an ambitious, joyous intervention, will runs for 4 weeks, and finish with the Bournemouth Arts by the Sea Festival. It is a push forward for the region to becoming a Festival Coast of culture.
Audiences will see several large-scale inflatable, interactive sculptures installed in the town centre. Epitomising the overarching theme for Art Month – ‘PLAY’ – the sculptural environment of Airship Orchestra is one for all to engage with throughout its run.
Created by ENESS, a multi-award-winning art and technology studio led by Nimrod Weis, the custom light installation comprises 16 inflatables – some up to six metres – extending over a 500 square metre area.
It Manifests as a mystical tribe of otherworldly characters beamed from the night stars, with glowing skin and voices like stardust. Visitors are invited inside the formation to “bathe in volumetric sound and rhythmic light pulsation”.
For the last two decades, ENESS has created ground-breaking experiences for cultural institutions across the world and is renowned worldwide for their transformational art experiences.
For Airship Orchestra, the sound experience is its own spatial environment, immersing visitors in an arresting score, written character-by-character for a multi-person choir.
The generative soundscape synced with light creates an adventure that is aesthetically dynamic both day and night. The resulting music is minimal and reflective, enabling visitors to conjure their own interpretation about from where the orchestra materialised.
Friendly LED eyes blink and follow visitors from creature to creature – inspiring artful, contemplative moments underscored by a rousing, rising rhythm to transport participants to another world.
In the summer of 2021, British artist Stuart Semple and his studio team transformed one floor of a former Debenhams department store – now Bobby’s Bournemouth – on the high street into GIANT, the largest art centre of its kind outside London.
Stuart Semple, Artist and Founder/Director of GIANT tells us;
“As terrible as online retail and the pandemic has been for our city centres and high streets, they do present a necessity to shift the purpose of those places. I think that it’s an exciting time for artists, and for arts in the public realm.
“It’s a dream to be able to bring a work like this to my hometown. Nimrod and I did a big public art project together in Hong Kong last year, and I totally fell in love with his work. Ever since I saw it, I wanted to share it with everyone here. It’s the sort of thing that you’d expect to see at the Southbank or in the Turbine Hall at Tate.”
Now, just one year later, it is not uncommon to bump into major blue-chip artists in the town, with the likes of Martin Parr, Gavin Turk, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Sarah Maple, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Mark Titchner and Jeremy Deller all having shown at GIANT.
The gallery has gone from strength to strength, attracting over 25,000 to its last exhibition – visitor figures that rival some of London’s most loved institutions – and putting Bournemouth firmly on the UK’s culture map. National headlines have heralded the changes: “Saatchi-on-Sea” (The Times), “Bournemouth Reborn” (The Daily Mail ), “Bourne Supremacy” (The Sunday Times), “Bournemouth 2.0” (The Telegraph), to name a few.
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Over the past decade, there has been a migration of artists from London to places such as Margate and Hastings which are more affordable areas. Now we see a huge influx to Bournemouth and it’s sandy beaches.
The new five-star Nici Hotel sets a new tone for the neighbourhood and plans have been unveiled for a new Ivy in the town centre. With more tech start-ups than London, a thriving Arts University and an average age in the mid-30s, it’s proving itself as a thriving vibrant coast.
The installation of this world-class artwork in Bournemouth is yet another confirmation of the town’s burgeoning status as an international hub for culture.
Bringing the best and most exciting international artists to as broad an audience as possible, GIANT OFFSITE takes the art outside the walls of the gallery itself. By integrating art into life in new and unexpected ways, the programme is a bold recognition of art’s vital role in our connection with one another, our communities and our future. It aligns seamlessly with the ethos of Stuart Semple’s artistic projects to date, which have taken place around the world, from Melbourne and Hong Kong to Denver, Dublin and Milan.
Passionate about the ability for art and culture to empower and transform community, Semple’s public artworks have included his famous ‘Happy Clouds’ – in which the skyline is flooded with artificial, eco clouds in the shape of smiley faces – and ‘Happy City,’ a summer-long, city-wide public art project that took over the city of Denver, Colorado.
Cllr Beverley Dunlop, Portfolio Holder for Tourism, Culture and Vibrant Places at BCP Council says;
“Giant Gallery has put contemporary art right on our doorstep, showing international art works that most of us would never have the opportunity to see. We should not underestimate the impact of having a major artist like Stuart and his brilliant team, in town.
“Art has the power to change lives and I can truly say that this has happened to me since meeting Stuart [Semple] and it is our ambition to extend the joy of art to wider audiences creating new experiences and memories.”
The month of art culminates with Arts by the Sea, BCP Council’s flagship free cultural festival, an exhilarating mix of theatre, dance, music, large-scale spectaculars and light & sound installations from 30 September – 2 October.
Arts by the Sea’s twelfth year explores the theme of PLAY as festival goers shake off the seriousness of what has been and rediscover time and space to have fun. Each year Arts by the Sea packs Bournemouth’s public spaces with intriguing performances and installations from some of the best creative companies and this year will be no different.
There will be plenty of opportunities to take part, get involved and participate, or just explore the festival site and PLAY! Visit Bournemouth from 30 September – 2 October and experience Arts by the Sea and Airship Orchestra in the climax of a fantastic month of creative and cultural experiences.
The theme for Art Month 2022 is ‘PLAY.’ To find out how you can get involved, please visit: giant.space/play
