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| WHAT'S NEW |
| NEWS UPDATE |
The Enchanted Garden - Festival of Light, 9 Dec - 7 Jan 2005
Following the success of previous Light Festivals at The Royal London Hospital, Vital Arts will once again fill the Garden Square with colour and light. Entitled The Enchanted Garden, the Festival aims to brighten up the hospital in the dark winter evenings.
The artists commissioned for this year's Festival, Plugfish artists Zoe Brown and Ellie Reid, have created a video installation that will bathe the entire Garden Square in vividly coloured dancing images. The video projection will transform the bleak winter square into an Enchanted Garden that can be enjoyed from both ground level and the ward balconies above. The magic of the video piece will be enhanced by the work of leading lighting designer Georg Baldele, whose beautiful sculptures will cast their glow across the children's playground.
Exhibition lit daily from dusk - 9pm
Georg has also led workshop in the children's hospitals, when children designed colourful paper lanterns.
This Festival has been made possible with the generous support of Bloomberg.
 Image by Plugfish 2004 |
 Children's lantern workshop November 2004 The Royal London Hospital |
 Georg Baldele, lanterns |
| The Sea Mosaic In September 2002 multi-media artist Jim Anderson travelled to Kenya to work - with David Kimani and members of Nairobi's Juhudi Children's Club - on a series of four ceramic mosaic murals in Gertrude's Garden Children's Hospital, Nairobi. This project, supported by various local businesses, was a great success, and as a result an exchange visit was planned. So in August 2003, David Kimani and seven children (aged 8 - 15) from the Juhudi Club visited London in order to collaborate with Jim on the construction of a new mosaic mural in the garden of the children's ward. Supported by Ginny Carvisiglia, artist in residence with Vital Arts, and with contributions from patients and staff at the hospital, a wonderful mosaic, made from recycled ceramic fragments and pieces of mirror, was made. Responding to a theme already established on the ward, 'The Sea' certainly fulfils its aim - to help create an inspiring, colourful, and life-affirming environment for the children and staff in the hospital. |
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Artist Suky Best is creating six animations as part of a research and develop project funded by the Wellcome Trust. These abstract animations will be located (experimentally) within Women's Outpatients at Barts hospital. The objective of the project is that the animations, which will play on a DVD screen, will sooth and distract those awaiting treatment. The animations will be located in areas where people may be experiencing anxiety, in order to evaluate their effectiveness in relieving stress.
The new Pathology and Pharmacy building at the Royal London Hospital will be a beacon. The building will be highly visible locally and on the skyline and will be celebrated architecturally. Appointed Lead Artist, Martin Richman, is creating a 'light pipe' in the front stairwells of the building to animate and provide a visual interest and enhance the public areas. Alexander Beleschenko, a glass artist, is producing a beautiful glass screen for the mortuary viewing area to reflect the particular sensitivities of its usage. These projects have been undertaken in consultation with Pathology and Pharmacy staff and will be completed late Summer 2005.
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Susan Aldworth Light Box The light boxes are the work of Hackney artist Susan Aldworth, who was a patient on the ward over Christmas 1999 when she had a suspected brain haemorrhage. She made two lights, which have been hung inside the doors to the ward, using four layers of Perspex taking the imagery of brain scans as her inspiration and using translucent blue shades to cast a soft ambient light. "I wanted to do something to express my appreciation for the care I received on the ward. I asked the nurses what they would like and they came up with the idea of lights. I took in samples of the Perspex as I went along so everyone could see how the work was progressing. I'm very happy with the way they look." The light boxes form part of a larger body of work undertaken by the artist for the hospital which includes a past exhibition 'Between a thing and a thought', made in collaboration with Dr Paul Butler and the neuroradiology department of The Royal London. "The lights brighten up the ward and are a talking point among patients. It's always nice when a patient says thanks for the care we have given them. It was very interesting working with Susan and seeing the pieces comes to life." |
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