SCAN spoke to Chloe Adshead representing the Beacons project which is going to be putting on an event in March. We’ve all been isolated over the past year in little bubbles or households and the Beacons project is looking to find a way for everyone to connect with each other again. Chloe and the team behind the project want ‘to create something out of collaboration and hope’ at odds with the prevailing themes of the ‘bleak’ last year. The project wants to celebrate hope and love ‘particularly in relation to the campus’.
For the Beacons project, Lancaster Arts are working with students at Lancaster University, if they are on campus or remotely learning. David Boultbee, an artist from the BREADart collective is creating ‘a unique light and sound installation that will happen on campus in March’. The Beacons team interviewed Boultbee and he said that ‘its really important that artworks reflect what a place is about… What matters is the people who use and inhabit campus daily’. The team is currently trying to collect responses to questions about students experiences of campus, what people are hoping for now and in the future.
This project needs the help of all students, undergraduates and postgraduates alike, no matter where you’re living. The best contribution that you could make would be to send in your messages in answer to the questions on the Beacons Instagram page: @beacons_lu. All responses are anonymous and your message might be just what someone else needs to hear at the moment. If you want to get involved more there is an email to send any queries to: beacons@lancasterarts.org.
Boultbee wants this project to be about looking forward and not focusing on restrictions and lockdown. Talking about the emotional connection which all Lancaster students have with the campus- ‘the first time you drove up the hill or the first time you arrived at the Spine’. This project wants to discuss the fact that there is ‘light at the end of the tunnel and really reflect what people felt about the campus’ during this crisis. Whether that’s sharing the need to see the campus ducks or visit Greggs again. Messages can be anything from lighthearted to affection for certain locations on campus, what does it make you think of? Is it your friends or love or just the kindness you’ve experienced there?
Boultbee summed it up best: ‘I think it’s part of a response. The artwork itself isn’t that. It’s more about what the artwork evokes in people’. The Beacons team reached out to SCAN to gain the project some publicity and support- your messages would make the project even better and brighten students days as we come out of this crisis.
